IRAN'S SECURITY APPARATUS

(Sidebar comments in Green or Red) Iran's main security and intelligence has VEVAK as the abbreviation from the Persian name meaning MInistry of Information and Security of the Country. Also nown in English as MOIS (MInistry of Information and Security). The heir to the Shah's national security SAVAK is also known as SAVAMA these days. Many of the SAVAMA agents used to be SAVAK employees and stayed on under the Mullahs. These days, remembering the "good old days" they are often at odds with the clerics. VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. (The Soviets had over a dozen urban guerilla psychologists and tactitians working from their Tehran Embassy to orchestrate the overthrow of the Monarchy. They intended their Marxit-Islamist surrogates, the MEK - Mojaheddeni-e Khalgh to come to power but the clerics, with the only national network in the form of mosques, once the government offices crumbed, stole the revolution away). Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. (During the recent arrest of Ayatollah Boroujerdi in Tehran for coming out in opposition to the Mullocracy, Ezhei promised Supreme Ruler tobring the Ayatollahs head to him on a platter before dawn. One of the supposedly ardent anti-Islamic regime proponents vehemently attacked someone who reported this, stating that the Islamic government would NEVER say something like that. Inferring the Mullahs were too honorable to be like that!) The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies. From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country (USA), because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Journalist Akbar Ganji (former Pasdar and pro-regime torturer while posted in Turkey) comes immediately to mind. Suffering torture after falling out with the regime and more than willing to forego a visit and insult the White House to maintain his clandestine contract with the Mullahs to work on their behalf and infiltrate the West in return for his life being spared. Former "prisoner" Fakhravar, who has been taken into the embrace of the State Department and apparently provided with substantial funds - claims he was a student during the 18th Tir student uprising in Tehran. Real students state he was part of the suppression units of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and was not a student at all. Since they suffered at his hands they should know. To set up and operate the "anti"-Islamic regime operation envisaged by the StateDept., he has been joined by Akbar Mohammadi, whose brother was killed in prison not so long ago. Fakhravar vouched for Mohammadi, whose first words out of his mouth were to "out" Fakhravar as a Pasdar and not a student, only to quickly shut up when told of the amounts of money that were being provided. For pretending to go against the Mullahs. Some outstandingly loud ladies, who rant against the Islamic regime also rant against some of those who actively attack the Mullahs. And try to suppress such activites because they have close family members back home in danger of being thrown back into prison. Or are being paid. The list goes on and on, including ex-IRGC employees who could not get into the USA and now operate out of Canada to establish pro-USA credentials in the Media and Internet and sow disinformation in the 80/20 or 90/10 ratio mentioned above]. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism. (University professors, doctors and similarly placed clandestine operatives can be found all over the USA - and in many parts of Europe). One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt Academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. (Names such as Nasr and Parsi, who are frequently propounding about Iran on TV and Radio or Talk shows, come to mind here). These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs. MOIS (Ministry of Intelligence & Security) likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic, French and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., mujahedeen.com. hyperlink removed by me as this is a poisoned website. Do NOT visit.) This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up. Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Note similarity to mujahedeen sites mentioned above. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. (This is the standard infiltration channel for Islamic regime operatives since they can claim and find "asylum" quite easily in Canada. And liberal Amsterdam, though gradually changing, is a major European launching point for Mullah operatives). Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada. Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. You can include some very significant, important and major websites in the USA among the naive. One England based ardently Royalist/Monarchist website posts a highlighted link to a disguised former Pasdar employee, now in Canada, who has wrapped himself in a royalist cloak as part of his disinformation campaign to appear a devotee of the royals and thus gain their support and to repeatedly trumpet his support for President Bush to make himself a darling of the USA. While irrefutable evidence shows he is a plant, including photoshop photos trying to establish his father as an officer, naivete rules the day and allows him to operate. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. A recent strategy by the Mullah operatives, to appear to attack the Islamic regime but not to do so, is to attack them as Arabs in Iran and to claim that the Mullahs are "Arabs" and not representative of the Iranian people. Since everyone inside Iran knows that the clerics - with a handful of significant exceptions - are Iranians and not Arabs, this slanted attack can later provide "deniability". Also, since most of the Basiji "suppresion divisions and squads" are in fact Arab mercenaries and most often speak little or no Persian, the populace can aslo be misled and have their hate of the Mullahs redirected). So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naive might be beguiled by his commentary. Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned. He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and Khamenei, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS. Interesting how UN Secretary General Kofi Anan echoes the same disinformation and how IAEA former military General from North Africa, El-Baradei helps run interference for teh Mullahs. Possibly because his wife is the daughter of an Islamic Iranian Ayatollah?