Ripples Of Iranian Influence Operation Reach Germany

Major General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, who is a former commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guard, said Friday that after the targeted killing of IRGC’s Quds force commander Qassem Soleimani, “the Supreme Leader ordered the missile strike on the Ayn al-Asad airbase (in western Iraq) within a short period.”

On January 3, 2020, former US President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport that killed Soleimani. The US justified the action by saying that Soleimani was actively planning attacks against American diplomats and military personnel in Iraq and the broader region.

Rahim-Safavi also claimed that Trump anticipating Iranian retaliation "had ordered his military commanders to be prepared to retaliate but hey argued that if we respond to Iran, Iran has already prepared its missiles, and all our armed forces in Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain will be vulnerable to Iranian missile strikes, and we cannot withstand it.”

“We had really prepared our missiles," he added, perhaps referring to the high alert status of Iran’s military forces that led to the IRGC's downing of a Ukrainian airliner killing all 176 passengers and crew. The airliner was shot down by two air-defense missiles fired by the IRGC as it took off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport as the IRGC was anticipating retaliation for its ballistic missile attack that targeted the base.

“Today, we have become so strong that even our enemies like the United States and the Zionists (Israel) do not even think about attacking us,” he said. His sentiment was echoed by Iraj Masjedi, another former senior Quds force commander earlier in the day. Masjedi was also Iran's ambassador to Iraq and a top advisor to Soleimani.

Amid heavy security presence, the predominantly Sunni population of the city held another demonstration after their Friday prayers, as they had done every single Friday during the past year. This Friday marked the eve of the regime's brutal crackdown on protesters in several cities of Sistan-Baluchestan province on September 30, 2022.

Online videos from the Friday rallies show security forces using live fire and tear gas to disperse the protesters, injuring several people. Several other cities in the province, such as Khash, Rask, and Taftan, have seen people taking to the streets, chanting slogans against the regime. In some of the videos from Zahedan and Khash, security forces are seen retreating as protesters advance towards them.

By nightfall, people in several cities are still out on streets setting up bonfires to disrupt the movements of security forces.

Footage from the clashes and the injured protesters at hospitals were so touching that Iranians on social media have already started condemning the brutal crackdown.

US Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY) said on X that she is appalled by the attack on Makki Mosque, calling on the IRGC to immediately end this abhorrent assault on the Iranian people.

September 30, 2022 is known as "Bloody Friday" which witnessed a devastating loss of life, with approximately 100 protesters in the Baluch region of Iran, including women and children, falling victim to direct gunfire from military and security forces.

Many of them succumbed to severe head and chest injuries, marking a dark chapter in Iran's history that unfolded amidst the uprising against the regime following the death of Mahsa Amini and the rape of a 15-year-old Baluch girl by the police chief of Chabahar, a city in Sistan-Baluchestan province. The regime has since failed to take any action against the perpetrators or launch a transparent investigation.

In some of the videos from Zahedan and Khash, security forces are seen retreating as protesters advance towards them. Some people on social media commented that Zahedan is fighting on behalf of all Iranians.

The protests began after Friday prayer sermons by Iran's leading Sunni cleric, Mowlavi Abdolhamid, in Zahedan's Makki mosque, where he decried the regime's inaction regarding the perpetrators of the Bloody Friday incident. The mosque was surrounded by a large number of security forces who had set up tents and positioned armed forces in the area during the night in anticipation of protests.

A huge number of people attended the congregation and embarked on a rally, chanting slogans and carrying banners despite the security atmosphere.

Referring to Bloody Friday, Abdolhamid, who has become a dissident cleric, emphasized that such a massacre is a consequence of the discriminatory policies of the regime towards ethnic and religious minorities. The outspoken cleric, who delivered his speech amid an internet shutdown that disrupted the live broadcast of the sermon, noted that "such an attack with over 100 killed and 300 injured does not happen anywhere else in the world."

As Sunni Muslims, Baluch citizens are both an ethnic and religious minority. Estimates of the Iranian Baluch population range from 1.5 to 2 million people. The Baluch community, along with the Kurds, has always been among the most persecuted minorities in Iran and has the largest number of people executed in the country.

Abdolhamid, who described Bloody Friday as a premeditated action against the Baluch minority last year, noted that the prayer ground in the city of Zahedan, where the attacks took place, had always been a place of "unity and security," and no one expected such a massacre to happen there.

He added that while the "judges" handling the case of the Bloody Friday incident are "good people," they lack the independence they should have, and underlined that he is aware of "the pressure from various authorities" exerted on them.

Abbas Aliabadi, the minister of industry, mines and trade, made the remarks during an event on Thursday, saying that knowledge-based companies must try to make Iran “a hub for technology in the region.” 

"At Mehrabad Airport, there is a graveyard of grounded airplanes. When we inquire about the reason, they say these airplanes have technical issues due to sanctions, such as lacking engines,” he said.

He said about 9,000 knowledge-based companies have been registered in the country, but the number of active groups is less than 70 companies. Since Khamenei included the adjective “knowledge-based” in the motto of the previous Iranian year (which ended March 20), the most important thing that occurred is that many companies redesigned or reintroduced themselves as such to take advantage of loans and incentives available from the government.

According to Alireza Barkhor, the deputy chairman of the Association of Iranian Airlines, more than 50 percent of Iran’s passenger planes are grounded due to lack of spare parts, particularly engines. Mohammad Mohammadi-Bakhsh, the Head of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, revealed that from Iran's 330 registered passenger planes, 139 are currently out of service.

Decades-long sanctions have inhibited Iran's ability to procure passenger aircraft and related equipment from international markets, leading to an aging national aviation fleet.

Iran has suffered from shortages of civilian airliners since the 1990s and used a variety of ways to lease older planes or buy spare parts through intermediaries, but the technical state of its fleet has been deteriorating.

The 2015 nuclear agreement (JCPOA) suspended sanctions on purchases of Western aircraft and Iran began talks to buy new planes from Boeing and Airbus. A few airbus planes were delivered but the Trump administration never approved sale of US planes until Washington withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions.

“We have long made clear our concerns about Iran’s space launch vehicle programs, that they provide a pathway to expand its longer-range missile systems. Space launch vehicles incorporate technologies virtually identical and interchangeable to – with those used in ballistic missiles,” State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing.

On Wednesday, Iran announced the successful placement of its Nour 3 satellite with an imaging satellite into orbit, positioned in an orbit approximately 450 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Nour belongs to a class of Iranian military Earth-imaging CubeSats. To date, two Nour satellites have been launched from Iran's Shahrud Desert, using three-stage Qased space-launch vehicles.

The announcement came amidst escalating tensions between Iran and Western nations, as Tehran continues to expand it nuclear program, accumulating enough enriched uranium for five nuclear warheads..

When the United States and other world powers concluded the 2015 JCPOA nuclear accord with Iran, a UN resolution put vague limitations on Iran’s ballistic missile program, forbidding the development of weapons systems that could deliver nuclear warheads. The United States has previously accused Iran of violating a UN Security Council resolution by conducting satellite launches. However, Iran argues that its space launch vehicles are not developed for that purpose.

“Iran’s continued advancement of its ballistic missile capabilities poses a serious threat to regional and international security and remains a significant nonproliferation concern,” Miller added.

“I didn’t think the Biden admin’s appeasement of Iran could get worse. Today, I confronted them on allowing an Iranian spy to infiltrate and work at the Pentagon. They defended it. Unbelievable!”

Sen. Joni Ernst wasn’t the first one in the Capitol to pillory the Biden administration over its Iran policy. But she was arguably the most unsparing when she got to it.

Iran International and Semafor simultaneously published a report this weak showing that several individuals with close ties to President Joe Biden's former Iran special envoy Robert Malley were part of an influence network established by Iran's foreign ministry. One of this individuals currently holds a top post at the Pentagon.

The person is Ariane Tabatabai, an Iranian-American with top-level security clearance who has been found out to have been in close contact with high-ranking diplomats in Tehran, working hard to promote the messages and the interests of the Islamic Republic.

“Any Pentagon official engaged in an Iranian misinfo op should have their security clearance removed. No question,” Senator Ernst posted on X, along with short clips of her appearance in a congressional hearing Thursday.

Many prominent Republicans in Washington have railed against the Biden administration since the report exposed the Iran-backed influence operation in Washington.

“The Biden administration’s flat denials of Pentagon officials’ improper contacts with Iran without refuting the reporting raise questions and deserve investigation,” said Sen. Tom Cotton on Thursday.

The Department of Defense has confirmed an ongoing investigation.

In a hearing at the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Assistant Secretary of Defense Christopher Maier said his department was looking into “whether all law and policy was properly followed” in granting Tabatabaei “top secret special compartmented information.”

So far, there’s no evidence publicly available to suggest Tabatabai (or any other person named in the revelations) was a ‘spy’, as Senator Ernst seems to allege. There are, however, serious questions to be answered on loyalty and allegiance, even if the emails obtained by Iran International and cited in the report are all that there is to the matter.

Ali Vaez, another Iran analyst named in the report, puts it eloquently in an email to Javad Zarif, then Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic (dated October 2, 2014):

"As an Iranian, based on my national and patriotic duty, I have not hesitated to help you in any way; from proposing to Your Excellency a public campaign against the notion of [nuclear] breakout, to assisting your team in preparing reports on practical needs of Iran.”

Vaez works for Crisis Group. His close relationship with Zarif is, therefore, less problematic than Tabatabaei, who is currently chief of staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, a role that requires security clearance.

Those who hired Tabatabai maintain – as they would – that she has been vetted thoroughly and properly. Nonetheless, they will likely struggle to convince the public or the lawmakers that another candidate without the 'baggage' could not have done this job.

And it's hard to imagine the Republicans letting this pass lightly, especially since those named in the report are close associates of Robert Malley, whose security clearance was suspended earlier this year and he is now under investigation by the FBI for mishandling of classified material. Republicans were already demanding clarifications about Malley's case, when now more troubling information has emerged.

This is almost all that’s known about Malley’s case. The State Department has so far managed to keep the details to itself, despite the best efforts of some lawmakers who want to know why Malley lost his security clearance.

But given that he's been the one fostering and promoting Tabatabai, the Republicans will now have more grounds to pressure the Biden administration for information on Malley, as well as his Iran policy generally.

On Wednesday, Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, lambasted Biden in a statement. “Every day, the Rob Malley saga gets more alarming,” Sen, McCaul noted, “reports allege an official responsible for supporting his Iran negotiating team was a core member of an Iranian-run influence campaign.”

A day later, it was Ted Cruz’s turn.

“Reports and emails show there is a vast Iranian influence operation that involves officials going to the very top of the Biden administration,” the Senator posted on X. “Sadly, it's paid off, with Biden administration officials enabling Iran to make hundreds of billions of dollars and get within reach of a nuclear arsenal.”