Kiwi spies carried out raids for CIA

Work needs to be made public to help keep SIS more “on the leash” — source

New Zealand’s spy agency, the SIS, broke into the Indian High Commission for MI6 and the Iranian Embassy for the CIA in the late 1980s and early 1990s to photograph code books, plant bugs and steal communications.

The operations included at least two raids on the Indian High Commission in Wellington in 1989 and 1991 to photograph thousands of pages from the commission’s code books, which were used to encrypt communications.

The covert attack on the Indian High Commission was code-named Operation Dunnage and was a joint mission between the New Zealand SIS and Britain’s MI6.

Thousands of photographs containing the codes were sent back to the United Kingdom so that Britain’s foreign intelligence service could decipher the communications of Indian government officials and diplomats.

RNZ has also learned that in the early 1990s the New Zealand SIS targeted the Iranian embassy in Wellington in a mission named Operation Horoscope, which was driven by the CIA.

The CIA altered circuit boards on a telex machine used by the Iranian Embassy in Wellington, allowing the American intelligence agency to intercept Iranian communications.

The SIS entered the embassy for the CIA, photographed the building and installed listening devices supplied by the CIA.

RNZ learned about the raids after piecing together information gained after months of engaging with multiple sources in New Zealand, Britain and the United States.

One New Zealand source, who has spent more than 20 years at the highest levels of the public sector, told RNZ he was concerned about the nature of the work the SIS carried out for its Five Eyes partners.

The source, who has had close dealings with the intelligence agencies, said New Zealand came under pressure from its Five Eyes partners, especially the US and Australia, to do their dirty work.

The source said the embassy raids uncovered by RNZ needed to be made public as the disclosure might help keep the SIS more tightly “on the leash”. In a statement, the SIS said it was “unable to respond to questions about what may or not be specific operational matters”. —RNZ