IRGC GENERAL ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY SPYING FOR ISRAEL IN IRAN: REPORT

Thu 30 June 2022:

Iranian intelligence has “secretly” arrested a senior general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) for allegedly spying for Israel, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper cited officials with close ties to the IRGC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that Brigadier General Ali Nasiri, who served as a senior commander in the IRGC Protection of Information Unit, was arrested earlier this month.

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According to the paper, General Nasiri’s arrest came about two months after a few dozen security officials involved in Iran’s missile programme were arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to Israel.

The paper quoted Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president of Iran, as saying that “the security breaches inside Iran and the vast scope of operations by Israel have really undermined our most powerful intelligence organisation.”

“The strength of our security has always been the bedrock of the Islamic Republic and it has been damaged in the past year,” he added.

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The newspaper revealed Brig Gen Nasiri’s arrest after IRGC intelligence chief Hossein Taeb was relieved of his position last week following a series of high-level changes, Iranian state media said.

Taeb, a mid-ranking cleric and a member of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s inner circle, was accused by some Israeli media outlets of being behind an alleged Iranian plot to kill or abduct Israelis holidaying in Turkey.

Israel raised its Istanbul travel advisory to the highest alert level on June 13.

Brig Gen Nasiri served 18 months in his post. Rumours circulated when he was removed from his position two years ago that he was in custody on charges of espionage.

IRGC spokesman Brig Gen Remezan Sharif called the claim that an IRGC commander had been secretly working for Israel “disgusting falsehoods”, BBC Persia reported at the time.

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