Iran News Round Up

Hamid Baeidinejad, the Foreign Ministry’s director-general for political and international affairs, denied rumors that nuclear negotiator Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani is a spy who infiltrated Iran’s nuclear negotiating team. Esfahani was reportedly arrested and subsequently released on bail despite the espionage charges. Baeidinejad called accusations that Esfahani is a spy “an insult to Iran’s intelligence and security apparatuses,” which would have identified Esfahani as a spy sometime during his “twenty years” of work in “sensitive international affairs.” He added that “according to reliable sources,” Esfahani does not have dual nationality. Previous reporting from Iranian websites described Esfahani as also having citizenship with either Canada or Britain.

Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, the spokesman for Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy (NSFP) Commission, claimed that “the individual who was arrested on charges of being a spy during the nuclear negotiations has dual nationalities,” however. Naghavi Hosseini also announced that the heads of the IRGC Intelligence Organization have warned about the possibility of hostile foreign governments employing dual nationals to facilitate the “foreign infiltration” of Iran. He noted that the NSFP Parliamentary Commission and the IRGC are continuing to review and confront foreign governments’ “infiltration project” after holding meetings on August 30 and 31. (Fararu) (Fars News Agency)

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi criticized Turkey’s recent cross-border military operations in Syria. He stated that the move “complicates the regional situation.” Ghassemi noted that counter-terrorism efforts are important but “should not be an excuse for violating territorial integrity and conducting military operations in another country without the coordination of the central government.” (Mashregh News)     

IRGC Public Relations confirmed that IRGC Intelligence officials arrested an Iranian-American dual citizen in July in Gorgan, Golestan province, on charges of “collaborating with enemy states, acting against national security, and communicating with anti-revolutionary elements and media.” IRGC Public Relations did not specify the name of the arrested individual but was likely referring to San Diego resident Robin Shahini, who was reportedly arrested in Gorgan in July. Judiciary Spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei had confirmed the arrest of an Iranian-American in Gorgan previously but did not provide a name. (Tasnim News Agency)    

Christopher Harmer explains why international attention must turn to Moscow’s delivery of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Iran in “The Strategic Impact of the S-300 in Iran."