NSA: ‘Communications Fingerprinting’ of Iran's Leader

The New York Times on Sunday published new details on NSA documents obtained by Edward Snowden. The agency seems to be listening everywhere in the world! Following is an example of an NSA document on Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 2009 visit to Kurdistan, as reported by the Times:

“In May 2009, analysts at the agency learned that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was to make a rare trip to Kurdistan Province in the country’s mountainous northwest. The agency immediately organized a high-tech espionage mission, part of a continuing project focused on Ayatollah Khamenei called Operation Dreadnought.

Working closely with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which handles satellite photography, as well as G.C.H.Q., the N.S.A. team studied the Iranian leader’s entourage, its vehicles and its weaponry from satellites, and intercepted air traffic messages as planes and helicopters took off and landed.

They heard Ayatollah Khamenei’s aides fretting about finding a crane to load an ambulance and fire truck onto trucks for the journey. They listened as he addressed a crowd, segregated by gender, in a soccer field.

They studied Iranian air defense radar stations and recorded the travelers’ rich communications trail, including Iranian satellite coordinates collected by an N.S.A. program called Ghosthunter. The point was not so much to catch the Iranian leader’s words, but to gather the data for blanket eavesdropping on Iran in the event of a crisis.

This 'communications fingerprinting,' as a document called it, is the key to what the N.S.A. does. It allows the agency’s computers to scan the stream of international communications and pluck out messages tied to the supreme leader. In a crisis — say, a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program — the ability to tap into the communications of leaders, generals and scientists might give a crucial advantage.”

Source: The New York Times, 3 November 2013

File photo: NSA Campus at Ft. Meade, MD: Windows to the World! (Patrick Semansky/Associated Press/NYT)

Iran Summons Saudi Charge D’Affaires

The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Saudi Arabia's chargé d'affaires in Tehran to protest as “baseless, repetitive scenario” Riyadh's allegations that Iran had links to a spy cell in the kingdom. Iran also requested a formal explanation from the Saudis.

The Saudi interior ministry said on Tuesday that the alleged spy cell that was dismantled last week had “direct links” to Iran’s intelligence services.

File photo: Iranian Foreign Ministry building, Tehran (IRNA)

Iran Denies Link to Spy Cell Arrests in Saudi Arabia

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast today denied that Iran had any link to a spy cell whose members were arrested by Saudi authorities. The Saudi interior ministry spokesman implied Iranian link and said among 18 people arrested was an Iranian citizen.

“This is without any foundation. It is a scenario that is being repeated for domestic consumption,” Mehmanparast said. (IRNA, 24 March)

The Saudis said the suspects were “gathering information on vital installations which they provided to the country they had been working for.” (AFP, 24 March)

File photo: Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast (IRNA)

Iran Denies Operating Espionage Network in Yemen

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast today denied allegations made by Yemeni president that Iran was meddling in Yemen’s domestic affairs. On Thursday, Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi said his country has uncovered an active Iranian espionage network operating inside Yemen.

Iranian-American Sentenced to Death

Iran announced today it had sentenced the 28-year-old Iranian-American Amir Mirza Hekmati to death as a spy.

“Amir Mirza Hekmati was sentenced to death for cooperating with the hostile country America and spying for the CIA,” said Iran’s prosecutor Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei. “The court found him Corrupt on the Earth and Mohareb (one who wages war on God),” he added [ISNA, 9 January].

Iranian-American Accused of Spying on Trial

Amir Mirza Hekmati, an Iranian-American arrested earlier this month, went on trial in Tehran on Tuesday, charged with “cooperating with the hostile government of the US as well as spying for the CIA.” [Fars News Agency, 27 December].

Ministry of Intelligence Identifies the Alleged US Spy; Airs His Confession

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MoI) has identified the alleged US spy detained by the agency as an Iranian-American named Amir Mirzaie Hekmati. The official press agencies IRNA and Fars reported that Mr. Mirzaie Hekmati has confessed to spying for the US and his alleged confession has been aired by Iran’s state-owned broadcasting system.

Mr. Mirzaie Hekmati is alleged to have worked for the CIA, with previous experience as an analyst attached to a US military intelligence unit. The MOI claims that the suspect was tasked by the CIA with infiltrating the Iranian intelligence apparatus.

Mr. Mizaie Hekmati is reportedly born in Arizona to Iranian-American parents. Upon graduation from high school in 2001, he joined the US military and served in Iraq with the military intelligence. After leaving the military, he reportedly worked as an intelligence analyst for DARPA and private defense contractors identified as Kuma Games and BAE Systems. During the alleged confession, the suspect claims that he was recruited by the CIA as an analyst in 2009 after passing lie detector and psychological tests. In a meeting at a Washington hotel with a CIA operative, Mr. Mirzaie Hekmati is asked to travel to Iran on what was described to him as an important mission.

Mr. Mirzaie Hekmati said in his confession that upon arriving in Iran he was to act as a source for the MoI, feeding them intelligence that had been given to him by the CIA, and after a three-week stay and accepting money from the MoI he was to leave the country.

To get prepared for the mission, Mr. Mirzaie Hekmati is first sent to the US base in Bagram, Afghanistan. He then goes to Dubai and from there he flies to Tehran. The suspect said he was to provide the Iranians with correct intelligence to gain their trust so they would maintain long-term relations with him. He said that the MOI suspected that the intelligence he had provided them were non-critical and his mission was discovered.

Iran Reports Arrest of Alleged US Spy

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced today that it has arrested an Iranian, presumed to hold US citizenship, on espionage charges. The name of the individual has not been released. The intelligence ministry has accused him of working for the CIA and the US defense intelligence establishment [Fars, 17 December].

The semi-official news agency Fars reports that the detainee had received extensive intelligence training at the US military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, before entering Iran. The intelligence ministry claims that it had identified the alleged spy while he was still undergoing training at Bagram and had him under close surveillance since then, including a period of time after he entered Iran before his arrest. It is alleged that the individual had the mission of infiltrating the intelligence ministry ranks and feed the ministry with false intelligence reports from the US side and gather intelligence from Iran.

In May, Iran had announce the arrest of 30 people for spying for the US, and last week it had announced the indictment of 15 people charged with spying for the US and Israel.

Iran Uncovers Spy Network – Intelligence Ministry

Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced today that it has arrested at least 30 people allegedly linked to a spy network in the country. In a statement read on state-run TV, the intelligence agency claimed that its agents uncovered the CIA-run network seeking to recruit Iranian spies through US diplomatic missions in UAE, Turkey and Malaysia. The recruits were said to have been asked to spy on Iran’s research institutes, universities, nuclear programs, and other sites. The Intelligence Ministry did not identify the detainees nor did it provide the time and place of their arrests.

The announcement of the uncovering of the spy network coincides with claims by the extremist elements in anti-Ahmadinejad camp that people close to the president might be working for foreign powers, and an ultra-conservative publication called for the arrest of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff and his political confidant.