(Los Angeles Times) Melissa Etehad - Majid Ghorbani, 59, and Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar, 38, were operating in Orange County, California, as agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, U.S. authorities allege. The men's goal, authorities say, was to conduct surveillance on Israeli and Jewish facilities in the U.S., and to collect information on members of the Mujahedin Khalq, MEK, an Iranian exile group that has long sought to topple the regime in Tehran. From the summer of 2017 to the spring of 2018, authorities say, the men crisscrossed the U.S., videotaping participants at MEK rallies in New York and Washington, and photographing Jewish centers in Chicago. Both men have been accused of acting as agents of a foreign government and with providing services to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.
2019-01-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive