In a report published today, Monday, an American website discussed the method of Iranian intelligence recruiting spies to reveal the secrets of the American forces operating in Iraq, and the transfer of a series of talks to an Iraqi who secretly spies for Tehran and provides important intelligence information about Washington's operations in this country.

American journalist James Risen said - in his report published by The Intercept - that the spy had to do a lot to prove his eligibility for his Iranian official, but when the United States withdrew most of its forces and reduced its presence in Iraq in 2011, they did not He had little new information of interest to the Iranians, and with the Americans largely gone, the Iranians cut off contact with him.

The report indicated that by 2015, the Iraqi had a job in the Iraqi security apparatus, but he was still in need of money, so he returned to the Iranians to apply for his old job as a double agent.

Tehran and Washington have returned to their secret intelligence battles after the reduction in the US military presence in Iraq (Reuters)

Filter Spy

It has been so long since he was last spied for the Iranians that he was dealing with a new intelligence officer who only knew what he had done by reading the old files.

Now, Al-Iraqi is classified as just a "candidate" spy like any job seeker.

And he had to convince his new boss that he deserved the job.

So, during a secret meeting, the Iranian intelligence officer told the Iraqi to disclose everything he knew that might be of interest to Iran.

There was one thing the Iraqi said that really made the Iranian officer pay attention.

The Iraqi said he had a friend who was also interested in spying for Iran.

The friend was working with the United States at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, so he could spy on the Americans for Iran.

The writer mentioned that this espionage story emerged from the archive of Iranian intelligence cables obtained by "The Intercept" in an unprecedented leak, and hundreds of highly classified reports reveal amazing details about the extent of Iran's influence on Iraq and how its spies penetrated the country.

According to the American journalist, the leaked reports mainly deal with Iranian intelligence operations in Iraq.

In fact, the leak marks the first time that a Western news site has obtained a large volume of documents from the highly classified Iranian government.

In addition to documenting Iranian influence in Iraq, the leaked files show how Iraq was a battleground for American and Iranian spies.

The report says that Iran's profound influence on the Iraqi political scene means that Iran's two main intelligence services (the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security, the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) have been able to operate freely throughout Iraq for several years, resulting in the development of an enormous network of resources. Undercover across the country.

According to the "The Intercept" report, Iran's precise penetration of Iraq made it the country where Iranian intelligence officers go to recruit spies against the United States, especially when the American military presence in Iraq was at its peak.

Now that the US presence has diminished, Tehran and Washington are back in their secret intelligence battles.

But Iraq remains a major battleground in espionage wars, and Iran continues to benefit from its influence there.

The journalist continues in his report that, “After the Iraqi stated that he had a friend working at the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, the Iranian intelligence officer assigned him to meet his friend on his next trip to Turkey. He could prove his competence for the Iranians by recruiting this friend. In their next meeting, he was informed. Al-Iraqi, his Iranian official, on the meeting with his friend in Turkey.

According to one of the cables obtained by The Intercept, the Iraqi told the Iranian officer, "On a visit last month, as promised, I visited him and spoke to him about his cooperation with Iran. It is very likely that he will cooperate with Iran."

Al-Iraqi explained that the security restrictions at the Incirlik base would make it difficult for his friend to communicate with the Iranians regularly, explaining, "Since the US forces impose strict rules on the operatives operating inside the Incirlik Air Base, leaving the base and traveling around cities could put one in trouble."

But this problem did not last long.

His friend had just gone to the United States to attend a two-month training course, and when he returned, he was going to work at Ain Al-Asad Air Base in Anbar Governorate, in western Iraq.

"At this stage, it will be easy to communicate with him," Al-Iraqi told the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and National Security officer.

The report indicated that the Iranian official was impressed by the efforts of the Iraqi spy, and wrote in his report that "the initial stages of his cooperation file have been completed, and he is ready to receive the code of cooperation."

He was prepared for the next step by his work as a spy "based on the directives of the Honorable General Director 364".

The leaked Ministry of Intelligence and Homeland Security cables do not show whether Siddiq al-Iraqi had actually spied for Iran from inside US bases in Iraq or Turkey.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment.

The leaked files show that the case of Al-Iraqi and his friend at the Incirlik base was not the only time Iranian intelligence officers attempted to use Iraq as a platform to spy on the United States.

A joint investigation by The Intercept and the New York Times in 2019 published a report on a leaked Iranian cable that showed that the Ministry of Intelligence and Homeland Security had recruited, or was trying, to recruit a spy within the State Department.

The identity of the person was not identified, but he was described as a person who worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Iraq issues.

The site was only able to obtain an undated portion of the internal Iranian report on this issue.

In 2020, the FBI has arrested a number of people in another Iran-linked espionage case in Iraq.

Maryam Thompson, a translator from Minnesota who works for the US military in Iraq, has been accused of leaking information about US secret informants to the Lebanese Hezbollah.

This month, her legal file was presented to the court to indicate that it is seeking recognition.

But the leaked cables obtained by the site indicate that Iranian intelligence operations are usually carried out throughout Iraq without much interference from American investigators.

The cables reveal that one of the reasons for Iran's success is that intelligence officers working in Iraq use a bold, traditional method to avoid being discovered while interviewing their sources.

And their analog methods may override American surveillance in part because they rely on more legal work than modern technologies.

Personal visits to religious sites in Iraq provide good cover for espionage meetings (French)

Religious visits

The American journalist said in his report that the Iranians are also creative in how to benefit from religious and cultural institutions and activities in Iraq and exploit them for intelligence purposes, noting that many of their Iraqi agents are employed during personal visits to Shiite religious sites in Iraq, as this "provides a good cover for espionage meetings." ".

In order to avoid betrayal and slander with espionage operations in Iraq, the Iranians were more willing to trust Iraqi Shiite informants who had relatives in Iran.

One of the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security reports - about an Iraqi intelligence officer who wanted to spy for Iran - indicates that his father sought refuge in Iran in the 1970s while the potential client spent "3 years in elementary school in Iran."

Often the Iraqi informants - whom the Iranians value the most - are like the Iraqi and his friend from Incirlik, who has been able to demonstrate his ability to reach American personnel and facilities.

An officer of the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security wrote in a report on his informant, “The source went to a base at Baghdad airport under the pretext of presenting gifts to some Iraqi leaders, including a commander accused of corruption and bribery, and an agent of the CIA in the Iraqi army. Giving gifts to the many Americans who are at that base. "

The American journalist's report mentioned that the Iranians in Iraq have relied heavily on traditional means and personal and cultural relations, and the leaked cables also show that the Iranians sometimes relied on electronic technology to conduct espionage operations in Iraq.

But like other spies around the world, the Iranians found their technology frustrating at times.

In one of the cables, an officer in the Ministry of Intelligence and Homeland Security reported with dismay that their efforts to monitor one of their Iraqi informants had failed to make sure that he was providing them with accurate information.

The Ministry of Intelligence and National Security officer stated that the informant had discovered his surveillance equipment, and that the suspected Iraqi insisted on changing their meeting plans.

The cable also stated, "The wiretapping device that we had at the source’s workplace in addition to the telephone wiretapping device was discovered by devil agents, which made him hold the meeting in an open place far from his workplace."