Arrest of terror suspects shows Iranian counterintelligence capability
June 23, 2012 - 15:15
<img alt="" src="images/stories/opinion/01_ziabari-1.jpg" />
The announcement by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry that it has arrested 20 suspects involved in terrorist operations in which two of Iran’s nuclear scientists were assassinated show the capabilities of the Islamic Republic’s counterintelligence apparatus.
It is also a serious warning to Iran’s enemies that their plots can be immediately nipped in the bud, but the Western mainstream media either kept a meaningful silence over this piece of news or tried to undermine it.
According to the ministry, about 20 suspects linked to the assassination of nuclear scientists Majid Shahriari and Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan have been arrested and more details regarding their activities will be released soon.
In an interview with Young Journalists Club, Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi said that these suspects, through a neighboring country, have frequently traveled back and forth to Israel to receive training, weaponry and ammunition required to carry out their clandestine operations.
Different analyses have been put forward with regards to the assassination of Iran's nuclear scientists. The common point in all of the political commentators' assessments of the killings is that whether ordered and perpetrated by Israel or the United States, these killings are indicative of a large-scale, multifaceted covert strategy aimed at weakening Iran's nuclear program.
So far five scientists in connection with Iran's nuclear program have been assassinated. The United States has denied any role in the murders, while Israel has remained silent. On June 14, BBC Persian website published a report in which it alleged that Israel has refused to deny involvement in the killings because it wants to intimidate Iranians and exaggerate the extent of its intelligence authority: "It's not clear whether or not the ambiguous stance of Israel's intelligence entities bespeaks of their actual involvement in the assassination of Iran's nuclear experts or is aimed at intimidating [Iranians] and strengthening this standpoint that these organizations are strikingly capable of carrying out their plans."
On the same day after the announcement of the Intelligence Ministry that the main elements behind the killing of Dr. Shahriari and Dr. Ahmadi-Roshan were arrested, the Guardian published a biased report and absurdly claimed that Iran is incapable of protecting its scientists: "embarrassed domestically by the inability to protect its scientists, Iran claims it has launched various sophisticated operations to identify the culprits."
The Western media did the same when Iran arrested and then executed the assassin of Dr. Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, an Iranian quantum field theorist and elementary-particle physicist, associated with the country's nuclear program. Ali-Mohammadi was assassinated in a bomb attack on January 12, 2010. He had just left his home when a bomb hidden in a motorcycle was detonated.
In his confessions, the 24-year-old killer, named Majid Jamali Fashi, revealed that he had received US$120,000 from the CIA to assassinate Ali-Mohammadi. On March 31, the Haaretz cited the TIME magazine reporting that the Western intelligence agencies confirmed authenticity of Fashi's detailed televised confessions. In his visits to Israel, Jamali Fashi received sophisticated terrorist training, and one laptop, which contained details about the location of Ali-Mohammadi's house and detonative boxes to be installed somewhere in the proximity of the scientist's residence.
Now following the conclusion of Moscow nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 and the detention of 20 people who are said to be Mossad and CIA agents, the world is once again focusing on the Israel-directed operations aimed at delivering a blow to Iran and convincing Tehran to give up its nuclear rights.
Launching recurrent cyber attacks to smash up Iran's uranium enrichment facilities and spreading dangerous viruses such as Stuxnet, which have infected many computers related to the country's nuclear program and assassinations of key figures affiliated with Iran's nuclear program, imposing severe financial sanctions and spearheading a pernicious media propaganda to demonize Iran and its people in the eyes of global public are the concerted efforts of the vicious triangle of Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom who have long tried to portray Iran as a threat to international peace and security.
Although the Haaretz, in a March 31 story, reported that according to Wikileaks cables, Israel has scaled back its covert operations in Iran, the recent news that Iran has arrested 20 people linked to the assassination of two of its nuclear scientists shows that there are many hands at work which tirelessly make attempts to derail Iran's security and destabilize the country.
In an article published immediately after the assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan on January 12, Jerusalem Post wrote, "eliminating the brains behind Tehran's nuclear program gives more time for diplomacy and sanctions to kick in."
The Israeli paper made a general statement with regard to the death of Dr. Ahmadi-Roshan, writing that this assassination marked "another day in the ongoing shadow war between Iran and the Western world," meaning that perhaps it is not Tel Aviv that should be held responsible for the killing, but the other Western countries. This "deliberate ambiguity" is a characteristic policy of Israeli regime. They do the same with regards to their nuclear program. They neither affirm nor deny that they possess nuclear weapons, thus officially making a mockery of the international community.
Although the detention of 20 people connected with the assassination of Iran's nuclear scientists was downplayed by the mainstream media, it was a major intelligence breakthrough and will portend bad days for the intelligence services of Israel and the United States, bringing to light the fact that the ongoing progresses of Iran cannot be hindered by assassinating its scientists.
The arrests made by the Iranian intelligence authorities have renewed hopes that the enemy plots will no longer work against the Islamic Republic.