U.S., Israel Say 13 Spies Connected to Their Intelligence Agencies Arrested
June 10, 1999 - 0:0
TEHRAN -- The United States and the Zionist regime announced yesterday that 13 Iranian Jews who were involved in spying for their intelligence agencies have been arrested in Iran. The Iranian officials have not confirmed the arrest. A study of statements of the United States and the Zionist regime on the issue reveals very interesting points. The State Department spokesman James Foley refused to comment on the charges, citing the U.S. policy against discussing intelligence matters.
If the news about the arrest of the 13 Jews happens to be correct, then it is clear that the United States is well aware that the arrest has been made on espionage charges, for Foley refused to comment, saying: It is against the U.S. policy to discuss intelligence matters. There is no Iranian official version of the story. That is, Iran has not yet announced the arrest; hence the issue of charges is in fact secondary.
In other words, if the arrest has really taken place, then U.S. intelligence services have been in touch with the detainees, and they are well aware of the fact that intelligence matters are involved in the case. The AFP quoted Foley as saying: the arrest took place some time ago and the United States refrained from comment for safety reasons. If the arrest has taken place, if the arrest has been an ordinary case, why should Washington come to know? Several cases of arrest are taking place in Iran every day, does Washington monitor all of them? Secondly, Foley says: "We treated the matter with a certain degree of discretion." Why should Washington treat an ordinary matter with desertion? The very statement shows that some people who are connected to U.S. intelligence service are involved in the case, if the story of the arrest is really true.
Foley adds, "Now that it is part of the public domain, we felt it was appropriate to speak out on the matter." Is the issue really part of public domain now? Definitely not. Because no Iranian official has ever talked about the arrest. Radio Iran in an analysis of foreign radios quoted Israeli radio as saying that 13 people have been arrested in Iran. Then a report dispatched by the Associated Press from Cairo, not from Tehran, in fact misquoted the Iranian radio and claimed that Iranian radio has announced the arrest of 13 people on espionage charges.
The Associated Press -- probably in coordination with U.S. intelligence services -- has tried to make the issue part of public domain with no confirmation or refutation from Iran. Can we consider the issue part of public domain now? Not only the U.S., but the Zionist regime as well has been very outspoken about the issue. An Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said, "Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon asserts that none of these people was involved in spying activities, and that they had never had any contact whatsoever with an Israeli intelligence agency." There are few points in this statement: first, no Iranian official has said that the arrest has taken place; secondly, no Iranian official has said that the concerned detainees were involved in spying activities; thirdly, no Iranian official has said that they had contacts with Israeli intelligence agency.
This indicates that -- if the arrest has taken place -- Israel is well aware of the identity of the detainees, it knows that they have been involved in spying activities, and that they have had some connections with the Israeli intelligence agency in the past. Although one can read between the lines of the statements of the United States and Israel that the detainees -- if the arrest has taken place -- are spies, both the countries try to say that the detainees were arrested merely because they were Jews. There are 27,000 Jews in Iran. They have one representative in the Parliament and enjoy equal rights with other Iranian citizens.
The representative of Iranian Jewish community in the Parliament, Manuchehr Eliyasi, talking to the TEHRAN TIMES said: I have also heard from foreign radios that 13 Jews have been arrested, but officials have made no comment on the issue. According to the AFP, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) reported last month that 22 Jews had recently been in arrested in Iran. The CRIF announcement is also noteworthy: it indicates that at least 22 people have been connected with foreign intelligence agencies who thought that all of them have been arrested.
If really 13 persons have been arrested on spying charges, the Iranian officials must be careful in their investigations. The foreign agencies have indicated that at least 22 of them are active.
If the news about the arrest of the 13 Jews happens to be correct, then it is clear that the United States is well aware that the arrest has been made on espionage charges, for Foley refused to comment, saying: It is against the U.S. policy to discuss intelligence matters. There is no Iranian official version of the story. That is, Iran has not yet announced the arrest; hence the issue of charges is in fact secondary.
In other words, if the arrest has really taken place, then U.S. intelligence services have been in touch with the detainees, and they are well aware of the fact that intelligence matters are involved in the case. The AFP quoted Foley as saying: the arrest took place some time ago and the United States refrained from comment for safety reasons. If the arrest has taken place, if the arrest has been an ordinary case, why should Washington come to know? Several cases of arrest are taking place in Iran every day, does Washington monitor all of them? Secondly, Foley says: "We treated the matter with a certain degree of discretion." Why should Washington treat an ordinary matter with desertion? The very statement shows that some people who are connected to U.S. intelligence service are involved in the case, if the story of the arrest is really true.
Foley adds, "Now that it is part of the public domain, we felt it was appropriate to speak out on the matter." Is the issue really part of public domain now? Definitely not. Because no Iranian official has ever talked about the arrest. Radio Iran in an analysis of foreign radios quoted Israeli radio as saying that 13 people have been arrested in Iran. Then a report dispatched by the Associated Press from Cairo, not from Tehran, in fact misquoted the Iranian radio and claimed that Iranian radio has announced the arrest of 13 people on espionage charges.
The Associated Press -- probably in coordination with U.S. intelligence services -- has tried to make the issue part of public domain with no confirmation or refutation from Iran. Can we consider the issue part of public domain now? Not only the U.S., but the Zionist regime as well has been very outspoken about the issue. An Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said, "Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon asserts that none of these people was involved in spying activities, and that they had never had any contact whatsoever with an Israeli intelligence agency." There are few points in this statement: first, no Iranian official has said that the arrest has taken place; secondly, no Iranian official has said that the concerned detainees were involved in spying activities; thirdly, no Iranian official has said that they had contacts with Israeli intelligence agency.
This indicates that -- if the arrest has taken place -- Israel is well aware of the identity of the detainees, it knows that they have been involved in spying activities, and that they have had some connections with the Israeli intelligence agency in the past. Although one can read between the lines of the statements of the United States and Israel that the detainees -- if the arrest has taken place -- are spies, both the countries try to say that the detainees were arrested merely because they were Jews. There are 27,000 Jews in Iran. They have one representative in the Parliament and enjoy equal rights with other Iranian citizens.
The representative of Iranian Jewish community in the Parliament, Manuchehr Eliyasi, talking to the TEHRAN TIMES said: I have also heard from foreign radios that 13 Jews have been arrested, but officials have made no comment on the issue. According to the AFP, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) reported last month that 22 Jews had recently been in arrested in Iran. The CRIF announcement is also noteworthy: it indicates that at least 22 people have been connected with foreign intelligence agencies who thought that all of them have been arrested.
If really 13 persons have been arrested on spying charges, the Iranian officials must be careful in their investigations. The foreign agencies have indicated that at least 22 of them are active.