Iran's crazy search for spies

Iranian intelligence detained squirrels, pigeons and accused Israel of sending reptiles and stopping rain - meanwhile, Mossad real spies had been laboring for decades and their efforts paid off with spectacular results. Opinion. As Iranian officials flail about, arresting hundreds of innocent people and executing "dozens" of alleged spies, now is a good time to recall that among all the things the Islamic Republic is terrible at, its feeble attempts at counter-espionage stand out as especially inept. 

While IRGC and other regime goons search frantically in the most bizarre places for foreign and domestic enemies (and a small number of Israelis were arrested for gathering information for Iranian agents, ed.), an intricate espionage network has been growing right under their noses. Israeli intelligence officers have been smuggling weapons, drones, communication gear, and even vehicles into Iran for years using "suitcases, trucks and tankers." They and their Iranian agents have been spreading equipment throughout the Islamic Republic. 

And what have Iran's "crazy state" counterespionage professionals been doing?In 2007, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that "in recent weeks intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders ... The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence agencies." While the "alert" intelligence agents were preoccupied with spy squirrels, real spies were busy downloading the Stuxnet supervirus into Iran's enrichment facilities, causing their centrifuges to spin out of control. (Read More)