US ARRESTS IRANIANS ON CHARGES OF SPYING ON DISSIDENTS

The two men compiled notes on infiltrating a group opposed to Tehran

Two Iranians accused of collecting information on opponents of Tehran and who took pictures of Jewish institutions in the US were on Monday charged with spying for Tehran.

The Justice Department announced charges against Iranian-US dual citizen Mohammadi Doostdar and Majid Ghorbani, an Iranian resident of California, alleging they worked together on surveillance of Jewish sites and aimed to penetrate the militant Iranian opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq, also known as the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, or Mek.

The two were arrested on August 9 but the charges were made at a Washington court only on Monday.

“This alleged activity demonstrates [Iran’s] continued interest in targeting the United States, as well as potential opposition groups located in the United States,” acting executive assistant director Michael McGarrity said.

He said that Mr Doostdar, 38, who lives in Iran, travelled to Chicago in July last year where agents watched him take pictures of Hillel Centre and Rohr Chabad House, both ultraorthodox Jewish community centres, near the University of Chicago.

The indictment did not explain why he took the pictures but it said the images included shots of security features.

He then travelled to California where he met Mr Ghorbani, apparently for the first time, according to the indictment.

Two months later Mr Ghorbani, 59, flew to New York for a day where he attended a Mek rally and took photographs of people in attendance.

Then in December, Mr Doostdar travelled back to California to get the Mek information. In conversations between the pair, recorded by the FBI, Mr Ghorbani mentioned trying to penetrate the group while Mr Doostdar spoke of being directed by others to collect the information.

“I will give it to the guys to do their research,” he said of the photographs.

The indictment says he paid US$2,000 (Dh7,345) to Mr Ghorbani in their meetings.

The photos, many with handwritten notes about the participants, were found in Mr Ghorbani’s luggage at a US airport as he was returning to Iran in December, the Justice Department said.

In March and April this year, Mr Ghorbani went to Iran where, according to the indictment, he conducted “in-person briefings” with Iranian government officials about his information on Mek, and received a list of instructions about infiltrating the dissident group.

In May, Mr Ghorbani attended the Mek-supported Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights in Washington as part of the California delegation, where he also took pictures of those in attendance, including while posing in front of the White House.

On May 14, Mr Doostdar called Mr Ghorbani to discuss clandestine methods Mr Ghorbani should use to convey this information to Iran.

Mr Doostdar and Mr Ghorbani were both charged with acting as unregistered agents of the Iranian government and providing the Iran government with services in breach of sanctions. They face upwards of five years in jail if found guilty.

Iran considers the Mujahideen-e Khalq to be a terrorist group that seeks the overthrow of the government in Tehran. The group was until 2012 listed as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department.