Firoozabadi: Many Iranian spies do not even know they are spying

While the arrest of several environmental activists in Iran and the death of Kavous Seyed Emami, one of these activists in prison, continue to be important news in Iran, Hassan Firoozabadi, senior military advisor to the Supreme Commander, commented that every environmental activist and agricultural scientist 'may' be a spy. Kavous Seyed Emami, a sociology professor and prominent environmental activist in Iran, was arrested two weeks ago along with several others in this field, and ultimately, on February 8, his family was informed that he had committed suicide in prison. The news of Seyed Emami's 'suicide' in prison has received widespread attention. The news of Seyed Emami's suicide came just a month after similar reports about at least two detainees from the nationwide protests in December. However, on the day Seyed Emami's son announced his death in prison, on Saturday, February 10, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, announced that several suspects had been arrested who 'were collecting classified information in strategic areas under the guise of executing scientific and environmental projects.' He did not mention the identity or number of those arrested, only stating that a security agency had identified and arrested them. Now, Hassan Firoozabadi, who himself acknowledged in an interview with the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, that 'I am not aware of the issue,' commented without naming the detained environmentalists that in the context of 'hybrid warfare,' any tourist, environmental activist, or agricultural researcher could also be a spy. According to the senior military advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei, 'Westerners... have concluded that war with Iran cannot be military, cultural, or political; therefore, they said they must fight Iran with everything they have and called it hybrid warfare.' In his interview with ILNA published on Tuesday, February 13, Firoozabadi also referred to several individuals who, according to him, 'traveled to Iran to collect aid for Palestine.' He explained: '[After the trip] when they arrived in Tehran, we allowed them to leave the country, but we kept their companions' belongings... They had purchased various desert animals like lizards, geckos, and chameleons. We then examined what these items were useful for, and later realized that their skins absorb atomic waves, and they were atomic spies who wanted to use this pretext within the Islamic Republic to determine where we have uranium mines and where we are working on nuclear activities.' He concluded that 'many Iranians who are spies and many foreign spies operating in Iran do not even know they are spying.' This high-ranking official's remarks about espionage, with a direct reference to the environmental field, come at a time when none of the detained environmental activists have appeared in court, and no verdict has been issued for them. Earlier reports indicated that in addition to Kavous Seyed Emami, two of his colleagues at the 'Wildlife' institute named Houman Jookar, the Asian cheetah project manager, and Morad Tahbaz, an environmental and cultural heritage activist, have also been arrested. The Kayhan London newspaper identified another detainee as Niloufar Bayani, the wife of Houman Jookar and a former UN Environment Program advisor. In this context, Amnesty International stated that evidence of Seyed Emami's possible murder is being concealed. Human Rights Watch emphasized the necessity of independent investigations into suspicious deaths of prisoners in Iran. Kaveh Madani expressed hope for 'solving the problem of true environmental friends' in Iran. Reactions to Seyed Emami's death in prison include Mohseni Ejei stating that the issue of suicide is under investigation. The Human Rights Campaign has called for international investigations into the suspicious deaths of prisoners in Iran. Mahmoud Sadeghi stated that the deputy head of the Environment Organization has been arrested. Kavous Seyed Emami, a university professor, 'died two weeks after his arrest in prison.'