Iran Reportedly Cracks Network of Spies Providing Data to CIA

Iran has broken up a network of spies who provided the CIA with intimate details and documents about Iranian military planning, The New York Times said in today’s editions.

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the Times said the Iranians had detected the network months before it actually collapsed and had used the spies to give the CIA false information. But some of the officials told the Times that before the network was compromised, it yielded valuable military intelligence, particularly about the Iranian navy’s operations in the Persian Gulf at a time when American naval forces were confronting the Iranians.

The network did not supply intelligence on hostage cases or political developments, the paper said.

The Times’ sources confirmed for the first time Iranian claims that spies had been arrested.

The sources said the Iranian military, many of whose members were trained in the United States, was considered one of the less difficult groups from which to recruit agents. The CIA had more difficulty recruiting agents from among pro-Iranian militants or officials in the Iranian government who deal with Lebanon.

All of those in the dismantled intelligence ring were believed to be Iranians, the Times said.

It was not known how Iran uncovered the operation or how long Iran used it to feed false information to the United States.

CIA spokesman Bill Devine, when informed of the Times report, said in Washington, “We do not comment on allegations of intelligence activity.”