Minister of Intelligence: Dozens of Spies Arrested in Various Institutions

Mahmoud Alavi, Iran's Minister of Intelligence, stated on Tuesday, September 6, that dozens of individuals have been arrested in various government institutions on charges of espionage. In an interview with Iran's state television, Alavi noted that "the counter-espionage section of the Ministry of Intelligence is one of the strongest parts of this ministry," and added, "I have repeatedly said that if you know a dual national, introduce them to us. Counter-intelligence has been very successful in its missions, and we have identified and arrested dozens of spies in various institutions. We have scrutinized many individuals who have the potential for espionage. However, there is no necessity to announce this." The Minister did not provide further details regarding the arrested individuals, and it is unclear for which country they were accused of espionage. Nevertheless, in recent years, the arrest of dual nationals in Iran has increased. Reuters reported last year that at least 30 dual nationals were arrested by the IRGC's intelligence from 2015 to 2017 on charges of "espionage." Reuters indicated that 19 of these 30 individuals held European citizenships. In the continuation of this interview, the Minister stated, "We prevent dual nationals from management positions due to legal prohibitions, and if we identify a dual national manager, we will take action for their dismissal." In recent years, political and judicial officials have referred to Iranian officials with "dual citizenship" as one of the most significant channels of "influence" in Iran and have repeatedly called for their dismissal. Alavi also reported Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's satisfaction with the cooperation between the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC's intelligence. He mentioned, "In this government, there has been more empathy and convergence between intelligence agencies than in previous periods, and the Supreme Leader has expressed satisfaction with this cooperation between the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC's intelligence." The IRGC's intelligence unit has expanded its organization since 1997 after Mohammad Khatami's victory in the presidential elections and has arrested many political and civil activists. The arrest of several national-religious activists and members of the Freedom Movement in 1999 was one of the controversial actions of this institution. In 2009, while this institution, along with the Ministry of Intelligence, played a special role in suppressing protesters, it was transformed into the IRGC's intelligence organization by the Supreme Leader's decree. The actions of this organization, alongside the activities of the Ministry of Intelligence, have always faced criticism. In this regard, Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, criticized the parallel work of the IRGC's intelligence in May of this year and suggested that the head of the IRGC's intelligence should take on the role of the Minister of Intelligence. Referring to the arrest of environmental activists by the IRGC's intelligence, he stated, "I suggest that Mr. Hossein Taeb be introduced and appointed as Minister of Intelligence, or the duties of the IRGC's intelligence should be limited to internal affairs of the IRGC and armed opposition groups as in the past." Several environmental activists were arrested by the IRGC's intelligence in early February last year. However, Kavous Seyed Emami, one of the detained environmental activists, died in Evin prison on February 19, 2018, and judicial authorities announced the cause of death as "suicide." Kavous Seyed Emami was a dual national Iranian-Canadian, a professor at Imam Sadiq University, the director of the Persian Heritage Institute, and an environmental activist.