Iran's Minister of Intelligence: Anti-Revolutionary Movements are Coming Together

The Minister of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran warned about the unity of the opposition abroad, stating that "with the support of the United States, various anti-revolutionary movements are coming together and attempting to converge and synergize." Mahmoud Alavi made these remarks on Tuesday, December 18, in response to a question from Jahangir Mohibinia, a representative from Miandoab in the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Mr. Mohibinia asked, "What security measures has the Ministry of Intelligence implemented to address security-disrupting actions and prevent any crises in 2018?" The Minister of Intelligence stated that "the current security conditions of the country are different from previous years," claiming: "We are facing a situation where the security services of neighboring countries and even distant countries are directly acting against Iran's security and are fully supporting terrorist movements and groups financially, materially, and educationally." He accused regional intelligence services, especially Israel, of "acting with full force and organizing terrorist teams," and on the other hand, "with the support of the United States, various anti-revolutionary movements are coming together and trying to converge and synergize." Mr. Alavi also claimed that "in the last couple of years, over 64 conferences and meetings have been held worldwide among various ethnic and anti-revolutionary movements to unify their struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran." He criticized that the budget of the Ministry of Intelligence "remains the same as before and has not changed, but expectations have changed," adding that this security agency "previously monitored a terrorist team every three months, but now sometimes identifies two terrorist teams in a week." Iranian officials have previously accused Israel and Saudi Arabia of supporting armed groups opposed to the government and being involved in the attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, but these countries have denied the allegations. In the same context, Mohsen Rezai, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, had previously accused Saudi Arabia of establishing two "military bases" in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Balochistan, Pakistan, to "destabilize" Iran. Additionally, Hossein Alaei, a former commander of the IRGC, stated that the U.S. and Israel have greater intelligence access than before and have "established an intelligence organization within Iran." The Minister of Intelligence continued his remarks on Tuesday, adding: "If previously terrorist teams entered the country with a pickup truck or a few Kalashnikovs, today they enter with SUVs and fast motorcycles and machine guns or even with 23mm anti-aircraft guns." Mr. Alavi also claimed that these groups previously only received "guerrilla training" from foreign security organizations, but now they are receiving "intelligence training on how to hide their communications and movements from intelligence agents." He defended the performance of his agency, stating that "the Ministry of Intelligence neutralizes 97 to 98 out of every 100 terrorist actions," and added that this security organization has managed to minimize "security-threatening incidents." The Minister of Intelligence also responded to a question from Kazem Jalali, a representative from Tehran, regarding "granting citizenship rights to Islamic Republic officials and their children in connection with the JCPOA," calling the news of granting 2500 green cards to Iranians during the Vienna negotiations "baseless" and stating that "we must be vigilant not to unwittingly play into the enemy's hands." Mojtaba Zolnour, a representative from Qom and a member of the Front of Steadfastness, had previously claimed that the U.S. granted green cards to 2500 Iranians as part of the nuclear deal with Iran (JCPOA). This claim received widespread attention, and Donald Trump, the President of the United States, criticized this action of the Obama administration based on a report from Fox News. However, Jeff Prescott, a National Security Council official in the Obama administration, responded to Mr. Trump's tweet, stating that "this accusation is ridiculous and false." Prior to the Minister of Intelligence, the IRGC's intelligence organization also denied Mr. Zolnour's claim and the claims of some representatives regarding Hassan Rouhani's dual citizenship. On Tuesday, Mr. Alavi also stated: "The Ministry of Intelligence has promptly informed officials of all matters and nuances of the negotiations, including the incident where Araqchi threw his pen at the American negotiator." According to Iranian officials, John Kerry, the then U.S. Secretary of State, during the Vienna negotiations, slammed his hand on the table in anger, causing a pen on the table to be thrown towards Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, who also threw the pen back at John Kerry.