(Washington Free Beacon) Bill Gertz - Iran's intelligence service includes 30,000 people who are engaged in covert and clandestine activities that range from spying to stealing technology to terrorist bombings and assassination, according to a report produced by the Pentagon's Irregular Warfare Support Program and published last month by the Library of Congress. The report concluded that Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) is "one of the largest and most dynamic intelligence agencies in the Middle East." "MOIS provides financial, material, technological, or other support services to Hamas, Hizbullah, and al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), all designated terrorist organizations," the report said. The spy service operates in the Americas, including the U.S., as part of "Iran's strategy of establishing a presence in the backyard of the United States for purposes of expanding Shi'a and revolutionary ideology, establishing networks for intelligence and covert operations, and waging asymmetrical warfare against the United States." Israel also is a major target of the MOIS and support for Hizbullah in Lebanon is a major Tehran intelligence objective. "To advance its goals, MOIS recruits individuals regardless of their beliefs, including Arabs or Jews, to spy in Israel," the report said. "Two Iranian-Syrian [signals intelligence] stations funded by the IRGC reportedly have been active since 2006, one in the al-Jazirah region in northern Syria and the other on the Golan Heights," the report added.
2013-01-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive