Private Mossad Seeks Iran's Funds Worldwide

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in its investigation into the Israeli private intelligence company Black Cube, concluded that its main goal in tracking officials from the Obama administration involved in negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran was to access Iran's assets, particularly cash, around the world. Haaretz published the findings of its investigation regarding this 'private Mossad' in its issue on Friday, November 4, stating that its studies were based on statements from several sources and intelligence personnel who have worked or are still active in Black Cube. According to this investigation, Black Cube, which has also been active in the U.S. in recent years, has identified its primary goal as identifying the assets, especially cash, of the Iranian government in banks worldwide by approaching various American officials and is still searching for Iranian assets in other parts of the world, such as the Far East. The gathering of information from Iran's banking accounts and assets globally aims to assist law firms and lawyers representing the families of victims of armed operations by Iran-backed groups in obtaining substantial financial compensation from the Iranian government. Numerous lawsuits have been filed in U.S. courts aimed at seizing official Iranian government assets to compensate the survivors of Americans killed in operations by Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other Iran-backed groups. U.S. courts have so far ordered Iran to pay billions of dollars in compensation to these families, although many of these rulings have not yet been implemented, but large sums of money from the Iranian government have also been blocked for this purpose. Publications like Observer and New York Magazine raised the hypothesis this spring that Black Cube's operatives were trying to discredit aides of Barack Obama for their support of the global powers' nuclear deal with Iran. During the spring elections in Hungary, Black Cube's name was also mentioned in efforts aimed at undermining centrist and leftist forces in this Central European country, which ultimately provided practical assistance to Viktor Orban, the right-wing Prime Minister of Hungary, who remained and was strengthened in this position. Mr. Orban is a close friend of the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As Israeli media had previously reported, Black Cube was established by several seasoned former members of Israeli intelligence agencies and operates from central Tel Aviv. Haaretz published a report about this company eight years ago at the start of its operations. Former Israeli intelligence, espionage, and military personnel are allowed to establish private intelligence companies while adhering to their country's laws and regulations; Black Cube is one of these companies, and there are not a few of them. Ha'im Levinson and Hagar Shezaf, two Haaretz reporters in this investigative report, wrote that Black Cube agents sought to gain as much awareness as possible about Iran's assets worldwide by approaching U.S. officials and establishing relationships and discussions with them, even offering consultation or protection, which is within the company's area of expertise. According to Haaretz, Black Cube also wanted to know whether U.S. officials were involved in any illegal actions related to Iran. Assets, banks, companies, and individuals that could be labeled as 'Iran collaborators' have been the targets of these intelligence-gathering efforts. The Muscat Bank in the Sultanate of Oman, where Iran's bank account balance, part of the revenue from Iran's oil sales, was one of Black Cube's major targets; an account that had a balance equivalent to five billion and seven hundred million Omani rials until 2015 when the JCPOA was reached. The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department during the Obama administration had agreed, based on the JCPOA, that countries and companies that had purchased oil from Iran and owed Iran money could transfer their debts through intermediary banks to Iran's account balance at the Muscat Bank; in one case, this office agreed that India could send 1.4 billion dollars of its oil debt to Iran in two installments through an Indian bank to the Muscat Bank and settle its debt to Iran; which indeed happened. However, despite the JCPOA being signed, Iran faced serious issues in converting its money from Omani rials to euros, and the Obama administration promised to help Iran overcome this problem. Although the U.S. Congress under Donald Trump provided a report showing that Obama administration officials cooperated in converting this Iranian money to euros, this same congressional report confirmed that major American banks like Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan ultimately refused to convert the currency. Nevertheless, Haaretz reported that Black Cube pursued its investigations based on monitoring several officials from these two American banks and individuals involved in setting and advancing the goals of the JCPOA to understand how that large sum of money was converted to other currencies; however, this aspect of Black Cube's efforts has also not yielded clear results so far. Haaretz states that Black Cube agents contacted Ben Rhodes and Colin Kahl under various false pretenses to use the information they heard from them to uncover potential Iranian assets in banks and other institutions while simultaneously filing legal complaints in U.S. courts or other countries. Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security advisor for strategic affairs, and Colin Kahl, his deputy, were significant supporters of the JCPOA. This goal of Black Cube was not achieved, and they attempted to meet with Caroline Tsai. Ms. Tsai was a young aide to Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, and later an aide to Susan Rice and Samantha Power, two former U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations representing the Obama administrations. However, since 2014, she has moved to senior legislative management at the National Security Council, and the review of the legal aspects related to the JCPOA and related matters in Congress fell on her shoulders, and it was here that Black Cube found her a valuable target. According to Haaretz, since government officials, wealthy merchants, company executives, and individuals in sensitive positions avoid meeting with foreigners active in such intelligence companies, Black Cube maps out a roadmap for each individual it needs to approach; it investigates the places where the individual has lived, their parents, siblings, spouse, children, and hobbies to perhaps reach the individual's matters of interest through them. In the case of Ms. Caroline Tsai, Black Cube sought to approach her through her interest in diving; there was a photo of her diving in 2016 during her trip to Cuba; the 'Diva' diving club in Cuba and her comments about attractive diving spots around the world were sufficient for Black Cube. Black Cube forged a club on the internet for diving in Buenos Aires and sent an email in the name of this company to Ms. Tsai, informing her of the 'launch' of this diving club to lure her into an initial meeting, but Ms. Tsai apparently realized the trap and did not respond. Haaretz reported that Black Cube's efforts to track Iranian assets in Far Eastern banks and any efforts by various entities that assist Iran in hiding its assets remain targets of this company. Haaretz referred to Black Cube as a 'private Mossad' and stated that this company, established in 2010 by Avi Yanosh and Dan Zorela, has received considerable attention and has recently moved its offices to the luxury tower of Discount Bank on Yehuda Halevi Street and Herzl Boulevard in Tel Aviv, where there is a high-security system, and Dan Zorela, its president, has the world's most expensive whiskeys and cognacs in his office for guests; just like Mossad, to give clients the feeling that they are dealing with a 'private Mossad' and its various teams provide clients with SEI (Specialized Essential Intelligence). In response to Haaretz's investigation, Black Cube stated that discussing 'a third party' regarding activities it has conducted for its clients has 'never been the policy' of this company and it 'never confirms or denies' hypotheses raised about its work. The company emphasized that all its activities in any country in the world are conducted in compliance with the law.