Former Iranian Officer Explains the Games Mullahs Play

Previously at Pajamas Media: “Former CIA Agent in Iran Comes In from the Heat”

One must never forget that the Islamic government of Iran is being run by hard-line clerics. The games they play with new faces and voices, or good cop/bad cop, are an ongoing show designed to keep the West confused and falsely hopeful enough that one day there will be a diplomatic breakthrough.

It is with this mindset that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, continually works to create a wedge between the American people and their politicians by giving out mixed signals, creating a false hope for a negotiated settlement over the enrichment process and U.S.-Iranian relations.

I know. Using techniques taught to me by the CIA and with my code name Wally, from a front-row seat in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, I compiled my reports on Iranian deception in the middle of the night, knowing that capture would bring torture and a horrible death for myself and my family, but my hope was that I could be of some help to free Iran from the mullahs and their network of terror.

The city of Qom, located southwest of Tehran, is one of the most important centers of theology to Shia Islam; it is from these theological seminaries that the country is run. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, a member of the Assembly of Experts (the body that chooses the supreme leader) and the advisor to President Ahmadinejad, runs the Haghani School that teaches the most radical Shiite beliefs, including the belief in the imminent coming of the 12th Imam who is called “Mahdi.”

The teachers and students of this school run some of the most important political and security institutions in the Iranian government, including the Ministry of Intelligence. Every minister has been associated with the Haghani School and involved in organizing death squads to kill the opposition and coordinating terrorist activities against the West. Ayatollah Janati, the powerful chairman of the Guardian Council, is also associated with that school.

Their deceptions work in many ways. One example was in July 1987 when the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, was in progress. Khomeini sent a public message for the pilgrims to avoid any kind of clash and to keep the peace. But my source in the intelligence unit of the Guards informed me earlier that Imam Khomeini had actually ordered an armed uprising in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj.

Many members of the Guards, Basijis, and thugs with weapons such as knives and machetes were sent disguised as ordinary pilgrims by Iran Air. The plan was to start a demonstration using slogans against Israel and America, encourage other Muslims to join the demonstration, and then incite an uprising against the Saudi monarchy. I immediately reported the details to the CIA. Not long after that, the Saudis started checking the flights arriving in Saudi Arabia from Iran and many pilgrims were sent back after the discovery of weapons on board. The Iranian regime went ahead with its plan and started the demonstration during the pilgrimage. However, the Saudi police were ready for them and at the end of the day hundreds died and more were wounded. The mullahs, angry about the interference with their planned demonstration at the pilgrimage, ordered a number of bomb attacks on Saudi agencies in and out of the country, along with the assassinations of Saudi diplomats in retaliation for the pilgrims’ deaths.

I also informed the CIA of my findings that an Iranian consulate convoy transferred arms and explosives, via an Iran Air flight, to the Iranian consulate in Dubai. Because it was a diplomatic convoy, they were not searched. This took place while the Iranian envoy in Dubai was relaying messages of friendship and cooperation to the government of Dubai.

All the while the mullahs have been supported by the Russians and the Chinese. I reported to the CIA that the Russians were selling arms to the Guards and training the new intelligence apparatus in the Islamic Republic of Iran, while also reporting that the Chinese were selling Silkworm missiles and artillery, and training the Revolutionary Guards’ naval units in a base in China.

The mullahs have always maintained a dual-strategy policy; one is to be prepared for any confrontation, and the other is to drag out negotiations with the West over their development of nuclear capabilities. Their goal is to outlast the Bush administration while pursuing the expansion of their missile delivery system for ballistic missiles and the enrichment process for the ultimate goal of obtaining a nuclear bomb. And the intention behind going nuclear is no less than destroying America and Israel’s power in the region — and beyond — with the belief that Islam will eventually conquer and rule the world.

On the confrontation front: Recently, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Jafari, who now also controls the Basiji forces, announced that the military will set up 31 command-and-control centers in provinces around Iran. They are appointing new commanders for each center, replacing the current commanders of the Guards in each province in coordination with Khamenei, the supreme leader. They are also appointing new representatives of the supreme leader within the Guards for each province.

This is designed to ensure loyalty, increased coordination, and less reliance on the central government. In case of a war and breakdown in communications between the central government and Revolutionary Guards around the country, the commanders at each center can make independent decisions to face off against any enemy or confront any public uprising.

On the negotiation front: The Iranians have found a new approach to further drag out the negotiations on the 5+1 package. As reported, they met on July 19 with the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and representatives of world powers, including the United States of America. The Iranians claim the discussions did not include any talk of suspending the enrichment program but rather a halt to expanding the project.

The terms discussed (freeze-for-freeze) could provide additional time of another six weeks of negotiations while the Iranians could maintain the current centrifuges in place. President Ahmadinejad announced that Iran now has 6,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium for their nuclear program. Their main goal is to prolong the talks for as long as they can while maintaining their right to the enrichment process. Then they will have enough nuclear material for one nuclear bomb within six months.

Their goal of destroying America and Israel is also twofold: military and financial.

On the military front: Iran’s leaders know that they will never be able to match America’s military might. I reported to the CIA from my position in the Guards in the 1980s that Mohsen Rezaei, then the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, received authorization from Imam Khomeini to officially expand the martyrdom force in the air, ground, and sea. It was decided then — since they would never be able to match the power of America — that they would create thousands of smaller forces in order to tax the response of the Americans.

For example: If 1,000 high-speed boats equipped with small missile launchers and filled with dynamite attacked the American Navy ships, it would overwhelm their defense systems and the probability of afflicting damage would be very high. Iran began creating these smaller attack boat units in the 80s. Then they purchased small submarines and started producing missiles, of which they now claim to have thousands, capable of reaching not only their neighbors but also Israel. They are working on missiles that can reach Europe and ballistic missiles to reach America. North Koreans are in Iran helping with the development of their missile technology. North Korea itself cannot pursue ballistic missile delivery without some harsh objection from the Chinese and the West, so their involvement in Iran serves their interests as well. The intent of developing the thousands of missiles is in pursuit of the same goal: overwhelming any defense capability to inflict damage and create fear, the horror of which can be heightened with the chemical weapons they possess.

The Iranians are skilled in using proxies such as Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Shiites in Iraq, Taliban in Afghanistan, and other terrorist organizations around the world, as they have demonstrated over and over again with bombings and hostage-taking in Lebanon and other countries. Many Americans, most notably CIA operative William Buckley and U.S. Marine Colonel William Higgins, were kidnapped and tortured to death. Many others of different nationalities were kidnapped and later on used as bargaining chips for exchange. The most blatant show of force by the mullahs was the 2006 Lebanon war through their proxy Hezbollah.

On the financial front: Iran pursues the same goals with the same philosophy as al-Qaeda in that any effort that puts a strain on the economy of the United States is a legitimate action. Al-Qaeda did that with their suicide attack of 9/11, and Iran is sowing havoc and chaos in Iraq and Afghanistan. The mullahs have calculated the cost of the Iraq invasion and the rising oil prices to the U.S. economy, and they also see that as a tool to weaken the superpower.

They intend to continue, for there will be only two ways out for America: one is an attack on Iran, which they see as unlikely with the current economic situation and oil prices; the other way out for the U.S., as they see it, is to leave Iraq and accept defeat. This would create an environment that the mullahs most desire, as it would allow them to expand their power by seating friendly politicians in Iraq, terrorizing their foes, creating an Islamic government cooperative with Iran, and all the while developing their nuclear bomb.

Knowing the mullahs’ intentions, I am truly puzzled by the confusion of the U.S. media and politicians over the true nature of the Iranian government and the people who run it.

This confusion has had the previous four U.S. presidents and their administrations making mistakes in judgment over Iran — leaving us where we are today.

One clear example is when Khatami became the president of Iran: speaking with a voice of change and proffering many overtures to the West, the Europeans did a little rain dance around the fire, ecstatic over the prospect of more contracts and business for their governments. The media in the West jubilantly beat the drums and announced a change in Iran and how it should be supported by the West. The Clinton administration, like administrations before it, embraced the idea of appeasement, going so far as to have Madeleine Albright publicly apologize to Iran for America’s past behavior towards the country — a condition set by Iran to improve relations — and partially lifting sanctions on the import of Iranian goods.

Recently Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, the former speaker and the secretary of the Iranian government during President Khatami’s term, participated in a debate in Iran and attempted to criticize Ahmadinejad for his way of handling the nuclear issue. He stated that while Khatami was president, “we had an agreement for the suspension of enrichment, but we were importing all the necessary parts for our nuclear activity.” He continued saying that “we were conducting our policies on two fronts: one to continue negotiations openly and keep the Americans away from such negotiations; and the other to continue our nuclear activities in secret.”

These negotiations, dragged out for years, have only seen the mullahs get stronger, more equipped, and more dangerous by the day. If they threaten to wipe Israel off the map and attack any neighboring country with missiles, who will assist the U.S. in a confrontation?

Imagine what they would do once they have a nuclear bomb. Imagine Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and many other terrorist groups around the world running around with dirty bombs under the control of the mullahs, who are indifferent even to the well-being of their citizens.

Hassan Abbasi, a former commander of the Guards and a current strategist close to Khamenei, the supreme leader, and Ahmadinejad, best describes the mullahs’ agenda: “Creating terror and fear in the land of infidels in any form — not only is it legitimate but it’s holy.”

Mohsen Rezaei, the former chief commander of the Revolutionary Guards and the current secretary of the Expediency Council, recently stated that both the Israeli government and the Israeli people are illegitimate, adding further that, based on Islamic belief, this is the official policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Mohsen Rezaei is currently on the most wanted list of Interpol for the bombing of the Jewish community center in Argentina.)

It is important to know that the current U.S. administration’s policy towards the mullahs will determine the environment we are going to be living with in the future and one needs to look back in order to understand the importance of such decisions.

Jimmy Carter’s presidency and his lack of understanding of the Middle East combined with an incompetent foreign policy were the key factors in the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran: bringing the mullahs into power and giving the Russians what they could have only dreamed of — a proxy against the West, which resulted in a spread of radical Islam, the creation of Hezbollah, and the spread of suicide bombings. I could go on and on, but with 9/11 and the ensuing events, I am sure everybody is familiar by now with the horrors of radical Islam.

The United States needs to strongly warn the world against a nuclear-powered Iran, which would create a total imbalance in the world’s economy and security. An ultimatum needs to be given with a deadline: if the Iranians do not scrap their enrichment program by a certain date, it will be scrapped for them — and when it is done, there will be somebody else running the country.

The mullahs believe in one thing only: Islam conquering the world through the reappearance of the 12th Imam. They have chosen their path. The question is: have we?

I believe — and hope — Americans can once again rise to the occasion and unite against these thugs who are determined to use any means necessary to endanger the world and cause an apocalypse.