Two
arrested for allegedly spying for Iran in U.S
on: August 21, 2018In: Home
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two Iranian men
were indicted on Monday for allegedly spying for Tehran in the United States,
including conducting surveillance at a Jewish facility and gathering
information on backers of the militant Iranian
opposition Mujahideen-e Khalq, the Justice Department said.
Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, 38, a dual
U.S.-Iranian citizen, and Majid Ghorbani, 59, an Iranian citizen and resident
of California, were charged in the indictment with acting on behalf
of Iran by conducting the surveillance, the Justice Department said
in a statement. Both were arrested on Aug. 9.
The indictment alleges Doostdar travelled
from Iran to the United States in July 2017 to collect intelligence
about entities considered to be enemies of the Iranian government, including
Israeli and Jewish interests as well as people associated with MEK, it
said.
The Justice Department said Doostdar
conducted surveillance in July 2017 of an ultraorthodox Jewish facility in
Chicago, the Rohr Chabad House, including photographing the security features.
Ghorbani attended an MEK rally
in New York on Sept. 20, 2017, to protest the current Iranian government,
taking photographs of the participants, which he later passed on to Doostdar
and was paid about $2,000 (£1,562).
The photos, many with handwritten notes
about the participants, were found in Ghorbani’s luggage at a U.S. airport as
he was returning to Iran in December 2017, the Justice Department
said.
Ghorbani also attended
an MEK-affiliated Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights in
Washington in May, where he again appeared to photograph speakers and
attendees, the department said. He later spoke with Doostdar to discuss
clandestine methods to deliver the information to Iran, it said.
Iran considers the Mujahideen-e Khalq
to be a terrorist group that seeks the overthrow of the government in Tehran.
The group was listed as a terrorist organisation by the U.S. State Department
until 2012.
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