Network of U.S. Spies Exposed, Iranians Claim

In a move that may herald a new wave of purges, Iran announced Friday that a massive security sweep has uncovered a huge network of U.S. spies plotting a coup against the regime of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In the weekly service at Tehran University, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, said the operation exposed several Iranian military officials and others “in sensitive places” as well as CIA operations in the Middle East and elsewhere. He did not specify how many people had been arrested.

“You will see that the arrest of so many spies is unprecedented in contemporary history,” he said. The United States “should have realized that . . . this country is no place for coups.”

U.S. Dismisses Charges

But U.S. officials dismissed the allegations.

“Iran is one of our greatest intelligence weaknesses,” said a Bush Administration source. “The sad truth is that we have not had a major intelligence presence in Iran since Desert One,” a reference to the unsuccessful 1980 attempt to rescue the U.S. Embassy hostages.

Said White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater: “My information is we don’t really know what they’re talking about. They make similar claims every once in a while about American spies when they need a little attention.”

U.S. analysts contended that the arrests probably were linked to mounting domestic turmoil and debates over constitutional reforms before Iran’s presidential election in August.

“It is possible that they think they have a group that is spying for someone, but it is more likely a guise” for cracking down on internal opponents, said a State Department official.

“It appears to be a continuation of the weeding out and purging that began with the firing of Montazeri,” the official said.

The Ayatollah Ali Montazeri was dismissed as Khomeini’s heir-apparent last month, a move apparently linked to his increasing advocacy of a pragmatic approach to domestic and foreign policy. The absence of a designated successor to Khomeini has intensified the already volatile power struggle within the nation.

Since Iran’s abrupt agreement to end the Persian Gulf War with Iraq last summer, Iran has executed hundreds of political dissidents, according to Amnesty International. The latest arrests may indicate a new round of purges, this time within the military, which still has hundreds of officers who were trained by the United States before the 1979 revolution that overthrew the regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

More than 250 Americans, mostly women married to Iranian men, still live in Iran. Two Americans--telecommunications engineer John Pattis and David Rabhan, a former pilot for former President Jimmy Carter when he was still Georgia’s governor--are imprisoned on spying charges.

But Rafsanjani indicated that the arrests involve only Iranians. He said some were spies put in place shortly after the revolution and others were allegedly recruited while applying for American visas at embassies in Turkey and West Germany. They were flown blindfolded from West Germany to an unidentified island for training, he claimed.

The Speaker, Iran’s second-most-powerful politician and nominally commander of its armed forces, said that the suspects had confessed to being ordered to photograph strategic installations. He pledged that several of the spies would make confessions on national television.

Rafsanjani also charged that Iran “had suffered at their hands during the war” with Iraq because they had furnished intelligence that was transmitted to U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.

He specifically mentioned the 1987 U.S. Navy capture of the Iran Ajr, a landing craft carrying mines in the gulf. “The Americans bragged that their information came from satellites. But the truth was that a traitor spy had told them the ship carried mines,” he said, adding a denial that the ship had been laying mines as the Americans charged.

When arrested, some of the spies had radio transmitters, code books and invisible ink to send messages, Rafsanjani said.

Iranian opposition groups had reported recently that three navy admirals were executed for plotting against the regime.

“In the past few weeks, there have been many other arrests of military officials who support the Iranian resistance,” said a spokesman for the Moujahedeen group. “There have also been hundreds of purges at government offices throughout Iran in the aftermath of the Montazeri firing.

“The chaos forced the regime to explain what was happening, which led to this story about spies.”

The Moujahedeen said it expects further purges and executions as the infighting grows.

But Rafsanjani claimed that the three admirals are still alive, saying that those arrested included “treacherous navy officers.”

The Speaker also contended that some spies uncovered before the war ended last August had been turned to work against the United States, whose Navy began escorting U.S.-flagged tankers in the gulf beginning in July, 1987, to thwart attacks on neutral vessels.

“We deceived them several times, and some of the damage the Americans suffered at sea was through these spies,” he said.

As the crowd at the university shouted “American spies must be executed!” Rafsanjani alleged that the entire CIA espionage network in the Middle East had become vulnerable as a result of the arrests. “They must pay a heavy price” to safeguard it, he said.

But he indicated that the activities of espionage agents continues.

“We have sustained losses from them during the war and in recent days,” he remarked.

The allegations come as Rafsanjani is positioning himself as the leading candidate for presidential elections in August. Although he has already received widespread support, he may be trying to preempt claims by Iranian hard-liners about his involvement in the 1986-87 arms-for-hostage dealings with the United States.

Rafsanjani is also pushing for constitutional reforms to strengthen the presidency and eliminate the premiership, which would allow him greater powers, analysts said. His religious rank, however, is too low for him to succeed Khomeini.

Wright reported from Washington and Williams from Nicosia, Cyprus.