By Staff Writer, Iran Probe
Thursday, 14 July 2016
Iran Ministry of Intelligence focusing on surveillance on and confronting Iranian opposition inside the country and abroad
Iranian secret service remains loyal to this strategy of discrediting PMOI through psychological warfare and purposive propaganda
The highly credited annual report issued by the North Rhine-Westphalia State Protection Office (the domestic intelligence agency) in Germany on the Iranian regime’s espionage efforts in 2015 was published in July of this year. This report underscores “The majority of the Iranian regime’s secret service activities in the North Rhine-Westphalia State is carried out by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS). Conducting surveillance and confronting the Iranian opposition is at the epicenter of the MOIS’ duties inside the country and abroad.”
The report adds, “The intensified espionage activities inside the country and abroad by the MOIS against the opposition organization People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MeK) and National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) continued in 2015. Based on an arrest warrant issued by the country’s judiciary investigative judge, on 28 October 2015 one individual was arrested in the city of Cologne (according section 1 of Article 99 of the Criminal Law). The arrested individual is accused of spying on a planned basis for Iran’s secret service against PMOI members and transferring the gathered information to his commander (in the MOIS) in return for money. In addition to the arrested individual’s home, the residency of five other suspects were inspected. Four of these individuals were residents of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the last was a resident of Berlin. It is said that these individuals were gathering information on the PMOI.”
Prior to this the PMOI had announced the individual that Iranian agents transfer the information to is a member of the Iranian regime’s MOIS by the name of Kianmehr, aka Sajjad. This individual is stationed in Hotel Mohajer in Iraq. This hotel is under the control of Iran’s MOIS. Individuals that leave Camp Liberty are transferred to this hotel by the Iraqi government and placed at Sajjad’s disposal. He is able to recruit a number of these individuals through threats and bribes, and then transfer these individuals to European countries, including Germany, under the pretext of refugees to carry out missions against PMOI.
“Iran’s secret service remains loyal to this strategy of discrediting the PMOI through a psychological war campaign and purposive propaganda,” the report adds. Two intelligence agents that are used by Iran in this regard are Massoud Khodabandeh and his English wife, Ann Singleton. Last month Singleton was able to deceive the Deutsche Welle website to publish false information about the PMOI. This couple live in Leeds in the United Kingdom and Iran has placed them in charge of the notorious “Iran-Interlink” website.
Iran’s espionage efforts aimed at developing weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biologic and chemical)
Radio Deutsche Welle refers to another section of the North Rhine Westphalia intelligence report on exposing Iran’s efforts to smuggle items needed for its nuclear activities and weapons of mass destruction.
“Despite the nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran, the Islamic republic is seeking to purchase nuclear technology through illegal means in Germany. However, only around 10% of this regime’s efforts have been successful,” the German domestic intelligence agency says.
This agency has obtained important intelligence showing Iran continues to place all its efforts to obtain substances and items that can be used in the construction of nuclear warheads and missiles needed to deliver such a payload. Germany, and its numerous companies involved in the most advanced technologies, is a country of the utmost attraction for the Islamic republic. Last week the German federal domestic intelligence organization set all diplomatic language aside and spoke of Iran’s efforts to obtain nuclear technology. Now, the North Rhine Westphalia domestic intelligence agency is raising a similar issue.
The 2015 German federal domestic intelligence organization report, presented by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière on June 28th of this year says, “Although Iran under the nuclear agreement agreed with measures aimed at curbing and controlling its nuclear program, its illegal activities, however, aimed at obtaining technologies that can be used in constructing weapons of mass destruction, continues on a large scale.”
