The Iranian Regime’s Agents in Germany: Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani

Introduction

Born in the Iranian city of Saveh in 1960, Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani is one of the agents for the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). He operates under the guise of a “former PMOI member” in Germany. A former helicopter technician at the regime’s Ministry of Defence, Sobhani fled to Sulaymanieh, Iraq in January 1984 to join the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). He started work at the supporting units for the PMOI’s bases. However, during one of the mullah regime’s plots to assassinate Mr. Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian Resistance, Sobhani’s suspicious links and fake stories about his background, along with his service to the mullahs, were revealed and the plot was subsequently foiled.

When Sobhani’s links and his terrorist assignments were revealed, he announced his defection, and after a while fled the Iran-Iraq border. He was later arrested by Iraq’s security agencies, and subsequently legally returned to Iran in January 2002. Upon his arrival at Marmar Hotel in Tehran, he underwent a compressed and elite training program by the MOIS to prepare him for operations abroad. His supervisor, “Haj Gholami,” provided him with his assignments, and Sobhani was sent abroad.

In February 2002, Sobhani arrived in Germany and established contact with other MOIS agents in Europe such as Karim Haghi, Massoud Khodabandeh, Ali-Akbar Rastgou, and Mehdi Khoshhal. Since then, his main assignment has been to participate in the MOIS activities against the Iranian Resistance in various countries outside of Iran.

Plot to Assassinate the Iranian Resistance Leader Massoud Rajavi

Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani joined the PMOI in January 1984 at the Iran-Iraq border. In 1987 his commander became suspicious of him on security grounds, and he was subsequently disarmed. In July 1992, he wrote that he was banned from attending a security course at the National Liberation Army, because of “the lack of trust towards me…which, of course, I consider as the organization’s right. I also noticed an example of this lack of trust when I was transferred from the Protection… to a different unit…” The grounds for this attitude towards Sobhani were consisted of the lies he continually told about his past and present in order to gain credibility and trust from others.

Afsaneh Taherian, Sobhani’s former spouse, who divorced him in 1989, writes the following about Sobhani’s inclinations to lie:

“Contrary to his false claims today, I found out later that other than a telephone contact with a conduit outside of Iran, he did not have any relations with the PMOI, and was entirely busy with his own personal life. His claims about being one of the professional personnel within the PMOI ranks, and a commander of resistance units, were all absolute lies. He says he was a university student studying aeronautics; But, this is also not true because he told me that he was a helicopter technician at the Ministry of Defence. Nonetheless, because of the situation at that time, I refrained from interfering in his work.

We came to Iraq in 1984. His claims about going to the liberated parts of Kurdistan region are also lies, since we were never in Kurdistan, and came directly to Iraq.

In 1989, I decided to divorce him in order to continue my struggle against the mullahs’ regime. During the bombings [of the First Gulf War], we both consented to sending our daughter abroad, and his claims in this regard today are utterly baseless. He vigorously tried to force me into living with him, but to no avail. When he failed to convince me, he repeatedly wrote to the organization, Maryam [Rajavi], and Massoud [Rajavi], in order to coerce me into living with him. The organization’s leadership suggested that I meet with him and resolve the issue jointly; Meaning that Massoud’s suggestions was that we live together and continue our personal lives. But, when I spoke with [Sobhani] I was faced with a violent gorilla (this was the feeling I had on that day), who, unbeknownst to me at the time, wanted to pack me alongside his belongings and take me with him straight to the regime. I found out more about why he wanted to do this after the terror plot.”

(Mojahed- 26 June 2002)

In December 1991, the MOIS planned to execute its assassination plot against the Iranian Resistance’s leader, Massoud Rajavi, in Baghdad. On December 23, the mullahs’ diplomat-terrorists were awaiting for Massoud Rajavi to arrive at the entrance of the PMOI’s Baghdad office. But, the PMOI acted first, and the day after, Agence France Presse and Reuters reported that, “The Iranian regime announced two of its diplomats in Baghdad were critically wounded by the PMOI.”

Subsequently on March 19, 1993, the Iranian state media relayed a bogus MOIS story, saying, “Rajavi was assassinated by his body guards.” Apparently the words “was not” got misread as “was” at the MOIS headquarters.

On April 5, the mullahs, whose plots against the Iranian Resistance’s leader had failed, sent 13 bomber jets and dropped 30-ton bombs on Camp Ashraf and the National Liberation Army’s command headquarters. But, their attempts failed once more. One of the regime’s infiltrators, Kazem Soleimani, had informed the regime that he had personally witnessed the deaths of Fahimeh Arvani (PMOI Secretary General at the time), Maryam Rajavi, and Massoud Rajavi.

Subsequently, investigations into these plots revealed the role of the mullahs’ agents and infiltrators in gathering intelligence and transferring information to the regime. Investigations also eventually clarified the suspicious contacts of Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani with his brother Jaffar Sobhani in “Educational Affairs” (a suppressive organization of the regime that operates against students at the country’s schools), as well as with a Revolutionary Guard at Evin prison.

Apprehensive about the revelations, Sobhani announced defection and requested that he be sent abroad. In July 1999, he attempted to escape while in Baghdad, but was arrested by Iraq’s security, and returned back to the PMOI. At the request of the organization’s leadership, the PMOI sent Sobhani away to carry on with his personal life. He then legally returned to Iran (Attachment 1).

In Germany to Carry Out New Assignments

After Sobhani’s arrival in Iran, and after he received his required training, the MOIS sent him abroad. In order to falsify a new background and identity for Sobhani, the MOIS created a scenario for him to swiftly escape Iran (from the hands of the mullahs’ Gestapo). In this regard, an MOIS website named “Mehdis” arranged a phone interview with Sobhani, in which the latter claimed that on January 21 he returned to Iran from Iraq. Sobhani added that on January 23, he escaped from the regime “after an armed struggle which involved shootings,” and came to Europe! What is even more ridiculous is the fact that after executing such a intricate escape plan, Sobhani’s sole aim now is to, in his own words: expose the treacherous role of Rajavi during the Iran-Iraq war; speak of the PMOI hiding Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction; report on the PMOI’s prisons and torture methods, which are far more gruesome and outnumber the mullah regime’s; reveal the PMOI’s role in the killings of Iraqi Shiites and Kurds; and, recount his ambiguous objections to the resistance, and the stay in Iraq of the PMOI and the NLA.

The reason for the regime’s insistence on presenting Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani and its other agents and associates in Europe and North America as “former PMOI members,” is the regime’s disgraced and reviled image on the international arena. Since the regime has been condemned on numerous occasions by the United Nations for its systematic and brutal human rights abuses, and since its propaganda is utterly discredited by the public opinion in Western countries, the mullahs need a cover for their psychological warfare and propaganda efforts against the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance, which remain to be the democratic alternative and the main existential threat for the religious tyranny in Iran. As such, they endeavour to erase their own fingerprints by presenting their agents under various guises. One of the regime’s tools in this undertaking are those who have defected from the PMOI, turned their back against the Resistance, and now cooperate with the regime and MOIS.

The Counter-Terrorism and Security Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) revealed documented information with regards to Sobhani’s return to Iran and his links to the MOIS, stating, “After leaving Iraq and returning to Iran, Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani, through close links with the mullahs’ MOIS, received intelligence training in preparation for another assignment against the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance. The location for these exclusive training sessions for Sobhani was Hotel Marmar in Tehran. Sobhani was placed under the supervision of “Haj Gholami,” an MOIS operative. His assignments, and those of the other MOIS agents, were given to him through various meetings at this location. One of the regime’s agents, Ramin Darami, wrote in a letter to an MOIS official that in addition to expressing readiness to conduct operations abroad, his team lead at Hotel Marmar during the training sessions was Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani (Attachment 2):

“Dear brother Haj Saeed, I, Ramin Darami, son of Abdol-Amin, born in 1969 holding a birth certificate no. 1561 issued in Abadan, declare my full readiness to go on an assignment as proposed by the Intelligence Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran to a European country to expose the Mojahedin even further….After going through legal procedures in Iraq, I entered Iran on January 21, 2002 through the Khosravi region. I was then welcomed pleasantly received by our brothers…We spent one night in Qasr-e shirin and after completing our legal procedures, we were sent to Marmar hotel in Tehran. We were welcomed and given a high level reception during the period we were in Marmar hotel…The person in charge of me was brother Mohammad Hossein Sobhani. We were in a team with Ali Qashqavi, Taleb Jalilian and Ali Ashrafi. The brothers from the Intelligence Ministry used to come to us everyday and resolved any problems we had. During this period I spoke to Haj Mahmoud. I stayed in the hotel for ten days, and when I was transferred to Ahvaz, some of our friends including Mohammad Hossein Sobhani and Hamid-Reza (Barhoun) remained in the hotel in order to see their families In Tehran…I stayed in Ahvaz for two days until my family came to take me, which was arranged in the midst of an interesting ceremony. During my stay in hotel Marmar your proposed plans were reviewed several times by bother Mohammad Hossein Sobhani with us and we were briefed on them.”

An Iranian journalist, Mahmoud Massoudi, who for 7 years was in contact with these agents and separated from them in 2002, traveled to Doblen, Germany, for an interview with Sobhani. But, he noticed strange facts, which arouse his suspicions. He later wrote to Ruud Lubbers, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and in addition to exposing Sobhani and parts of the new network of the mullahs’ Gestapo agents sent from Tehran, unveiled some of the MOIS’ plots. In his letter, Massoudi writes,

“I was then informed that on April 5, 2002, a meeting was held at the home of Bahman Rastgou in Cologne, Germany, with the participation of Karim Haqqi, Hadi Shams-Haeri, Mehdi Khoshhal, Mohammad-Reza Haqqi, Bahman (Ali Akbar) Rastgou, and several of the new arrivals, including Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani and Farhad Javaheri-Yar.

At the same time, I realized that another individual, Massoud Khodabandeh, who had stated publicly that his main task was to undermine the PMOI, had gone to Germany from the UK to resolve the legal status of Sobhani and his friends, Farhad Javaheri-Yar, Adham Tayyebi and Edward Tormadouyan, all of whom had arrived in Germany simultaneously.

In the meeting, Sobhani, who is the senior agent over Javaheri-Yar, explained the plans and aims of his team in coming to Germany and in this connection they agreed on a division of labor. Sobhani and Javaheri-Yar told those present that they came from Iran and more agents would follow them.

Sobhani's scenario was as follows: He was an official of "the Mojahedin's Political Security Department" and had been "imprisoned and tortured" by the Mojahedin because he was "opposed to the organization's policies." After years in solitary confinement, he was handed over to Iraq and then spent several years in Iraqi jails and was then "extradited" to Iran and imprisoned by the Intelligence Ministry. But on the third day of arriving in Iran, he "fled" the Intelligence Ministry's prison and came to Germany!

While Sobhani claimed that he had fled the Intelligence Ministry's jail after only three days, he had read all the books and journals that the Intelligence Ministry has published in recent years in the name of the "break-away members of the Mojahedin". The Intelligence Ministry had a dual use for these books. One is for outside the country for propaganda against the Mojahedin and the other to train the infiltrating agents of the Intelligence Ministry in safe houses and hotels under the control of the Ministry in Tehran.

Clearly, there was no possibility that Sobhani could have read all these books and journals while he was with the Mojahedin or in an Iraqi prison. So he must have read dozens of books in less than three days, while he was, if one were to believe his story, being tortured or being transferred from Qasr-e Shirin Prison to Kermanshah Prison and from there to Tehran prison.

Sobhani claims that his "mission" abroad is to fight against the Mojahedin and the person of Mr. Massoud Rajavi and the most important thing, he says, is to attack Mr. Rajavi. He also said that he was responsible for organizing other "Mojahedin defectors" who "escape" from Iran.

Sobhani explicitly described himself pro-Rafsanjani and the policies that Rafsanjani pursued as president. But he asked me not to mention this in the printed interview. Sobhani called Rafsanjani "the father of reform in Iran" and blamed Rafsanjani's failure and isolation on the Mojahedin's activities inside Iran and was extremely frustrated against the Mojahedin.

After hours of discussion and numerous telephone conversations with Sobhani, it has become crystal clear to me that he is neither a political refugee, nor a defector seeking to lead an ordinary life. He is in fact a trained agent sent by the Intelligence Ministry with strong financial and communication backing and, as he put it, "I have come outside Iran only for the purpose of fighting the Mojahedin and have no mission other than opposing them."

Five days after my eight-hour interview and talks with Sobhani, he called me and said he wanted to give me the statements by two other Mojahedin defectors to me to edit and type and return to him for publication. Even though this was a strange request, I accepted and told him to fax them to me. Two days later, on Monday, August 5, ten pages of typed text were faxed to me with the joint signatures of Javaheri-Yar and Edward Termadoyan.

On this typed statement (which I am attaching to this letter and sending to you by mail) there were corrections in handwriting that belonged neither to Sobhani nor to Javaheri-Yar or Termadoyan. It was clear that they had received the typed text from outside Germany and the original sender was in the Intelligence Ministry in Tehran.

In this statement, Javaheri-Yar and Termadoyan were giving a scenario that was almost identical to Sobhani: they claimed that they were "Mojahedin dissidents" who had been arrested by the Mojahedin and handed over to Iraq, which in turn handed them over to Iran and they then escaped from the Intelligence Ministry and came to Europe...

Yours sincerely,

Mahmoud Masoudi

August 18, 2002

cc:

Mrs. Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

President of the UN Human Rights Commission

President of the International Committee of the Red Cross

Amnesty International

Committee on Counter-terrorism of the National Council of Resistance of Iran

The German and Dutch Intelligence Reports

The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BFV) wrote in its 1997 report, “…One of the main Iranian secret intelligence’s activities is to monitor Iranian opposition members living in Germany. In this regard, monitoring the Mojahedin-e Khalq Iran [PMOI] and its political wing, the ‘National Council of Resistance of Iran’ have topped the list…”. Two years later, BFV stresses in its 1999 report that, “The Iranian intelligence agency’s main target remain to be Iranian dissidents residing in Germany. … The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran and its political wing, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, continue to be on top of the Iranian intelligence agency’s agenda.”

The Dutch Security Services (AIVD) wrote in its 1998 report that, “… It is still being noted that Iranian intelligence services are active in the Netherlands. Iranian agents are determined to identify members of opposition groups in order to destabilize their organizations. The current and former members of the MEK [i.e. PMOI] are especially monitored by Iran’s intelligence services. Iran’s MOIS intimidates Iranians to coerce them into cooperation.”

A year later, AIVD also reported that, “The MEK was the most important Iranian opposition movement, and has representation in the Netherlands ... In the West, the MEK restricts its activities to organizing protests and providing written or oral information (Attachment 3).

“… Iranian officials continue to vehemently confront opposition organizations. One of the main tasks of the Iranian intelligence services is to identify opposition members abroad, and especially the current and former sympathizers of the MEK.”

Participating in the Shameful June 17th Plot

At the start of 2003, the mullahs’ MOIS, in cooperation with France’s intelligence agency, planned to execute a plot to extradite the members and officials of the Iranian Resistance from France.

On June 17^th, 2003, 1300 French police stormed the headquarters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Auvers sur-Oise, and arrested and imprisoned 163 people from the PMOI, including Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, NCRI’s President-elect, in order to extradite them to Iran. Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani was one of the sources of information and intelligence for the Iranian regime during this plot. This was by far Sobhani’s most disgraceful acts of cooperation with the MOIS against the Iranian Resistance, in cooperation with France’s DST.

The MOIS’ Bulletin No. 3726/D, which was sent to senior regime officials on June 23, 2003, stressed cooperation between the Iranian regime’s intelligence services and their French counterparts:

“Item no. 5 – Limited Publication: The said operation, which is unprecedented, was planned two-and-a-half years ago by the French security services (DST), and the judicial process for it was designed gradually, the details of which were shared in the joint meetings with the above-mentioned agency. According to the plan, 16 senior members of the (PMOI) in France will be tried on the grounds of participation in terrorist acts.”

On March 11, 2005, Mr. Mohammad Mohaddessin, Chairman of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee, William Bourdon and Francoise Serres laywers, Jacques Gaillot, bishop of Partenia and one of the most renowned human rights activists in France, and Patrick Beaudoin, honorary president of the International Federation for Human Rights, held a press conference in Paris, in which they revealed the Iranian regime’s attempts to infiltrate the June 17^th case. Mr. Mohaddessin named Karim Haghi, Massoud Khodabandeh, Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani, and Adham Tayyebi as the regime’s agents participating in this plot.

Investigative report of the European Parliament Regarding the False Accusations Propagated by the Mullahs’ Intelligence Ministry Agent

Mohammad Hossein Sobhani is one of the individuals the Human Rights Watch used in its May 2005 report against the PMOI. The said organization published Sobhani’s accusations and lies as part of its report.

The EU Parliament’s delegation, which carefully investigated the accusations brought in the Human Rights Watch’s report against the PMOI during a trip to Iraq and the PMOI’s Camp Ashraf, also investigated Sobhani’s claims against the PMOI and proved their falsehood.

http://www.ncr-iran.org/images/stories/advertising/cover-ep%

“… Another case pursued by the delegation was allegations raised by Mohammad Hossein

Sobhani. He said he spent eight and half years in solitary confinement. Friends of a Free Iran spoke in length with his ex-wife. She denied that he had ever been jailed and provided the delegation with information about his links with the Iranian regime through his brother.

Friends of a Free Iran also obtained information from other sources, including a letter from Massoud Mahmoudi who also suggested that Sobhani is an agent of the Iranian regime. Mr. Mahmoudi was in contact with agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence in Europe for seven years. The credibility of Mr. Sobhani's claim was further undermined by inconsistencies in his own statements to Human Rights Watch and others.”

Participating in the MOIS Plot Against Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Stay in France

Failing to realize its goals against the Iranian Resistance during the June 17^th plot, the Iranian regime started to mobilize its agents both inside and outside of Iran in 2005 in order to carry out activities against Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance’s President-elect, in France.

The mullahs’ MOIS, in coordination with a French intelligence service, sent its agents to France to carry out a gathering against the Iranian Resistance in Paris, and some other areas near the town of Auvers sur-Oise (Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s residence) in Val d’Oise province. The agents, who according to Agence France Presse, numbered around 50, were reviled by French residents. The agents, who had come under the guise of “former PMOI members,” stressed that, “With the help of DST, we want to do something so that Maryam Rajavi would be expelled from France.” They also exclaimed, “We are working towards Maryam Rajavi’s expulsion, trial, and execution.”

The order for this campaign came from Ali Younesi, the then-Minister of Intelligence for the regime, who had announced two weeks prior to this, “Today I ordered my deputy to immediately convey the crimes of the (PMOI) to the international community for the record” (State-run TV, March 15, 2005).

Sobhani was one of the participants in this campaign, going to France along with Massoud Khodabandeh, Karim Haghi, and a number of other well-known MOIS agents.

The assembly of the mullah regime’s agents arouse a deeper sense of hatred towards them and the regime among the French residents in Auvers sur-Oise, Sergi, and Trocadero Square. French residents were vehemently dismayed at the presence of the regime’s agents in their city.

The April 29, 1997 Council of Europe resolution stresses “cooperation among the member states to guarantee that no visas are granted to Iranians with intelligence and security related assignments,” and invites all the member states to “coordinated action when it comes to the expulsion of and blocking of Iran’s intelligence and security personnel’s entry into the EU member states.”

Participating in the Knife-Wielding Assault Against Iranian Refugees in France

The MOIS planned to gather a number of its agents from France and other European countries for a meeting at the Fiap building in Paris against Iranian refugees and political dissidents. For this purpose, Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani and a number of other agents from various countries were sent to Paris. However, before the meeting could take place, and upon the arrival of a number of political refugees, the MOIS operatives, based on previous plans, used knives, tear gas, and knuckle-dusters, to violently attack and injure the dissidents.

Subsequent to this brutal attack by the MOIS operatives, the French police arrived at the scene, and after conducting a spot investigation, gathered all the weapons at the sight. After identifying the assailants, the police cancelled the meeting, and arrested and laid charges on Mohammad-Hossein Sobhani and two other knife-wielding MOIS and embassy employees (Attachment 4).

The whistleblower of the Mojahedin is a genuine terrorist

By Jean-François DUPAQUIER

L’Echo régional -On 5 April 2005, Mohammad Sobhani appeared in front of the town hall in Auvers sur-Oise in protest to the asylum given by France to the People’s Mojahedin. The same man was recently arrested after participating in a knife-wielding attack.

Is Mohammad Hossein Sobhani a peaceful democrat who has “lost it” by participating in a knife attack against Iranian refugees in France, or is he an agent of the mullah regime’s intelligence services (VAVEK); the same intelligence services which brutally impose “Islamic law” on the Iranian people? In any case, this man, who is also the star witness for Judge Bruguière, is under investigation for attacking Iranian dissidents with a knife in the middle of Paris, along with two of his friends.

Knife Attack

Mohammad Hossein Sobhani is part of a group of three men arrested by police following a fight in Paris, in which the victims were members of the People’s Mojahedin.

This year’s June 17th meeting in Paris was supposed to be a public one. The Iranian regime’s supporters had especially planned to convene the meeting on the anniversary of the 2003 arrests in Auver sur-Oise, in order to spread extensive propaganda about it.

As was predicted, the PMOI appeared at the meeting in order to voice its opposition to the meeting. They claim that the Iranian regime’s intelligence services had organized the meeting. A few individuals attacked the protestors with tear gas. An Iranian has been critically wounded by a knife.

“Iranian Regime Agents”

According to judicial sources, the assailant who was armed with a weapon is in temporary custody and is scheduled to appear before a judge. The judge will decide if the accused would be freed or remain in custody.

Detention Rulings

This man has been temporarily arrested on charges of “intentionally causing injury in an assembly with a weapon,” on orders by Judge Michel Ganascia. According to William Bourdon (PMOI’s lawyer), 7 PMOI members have filed complaints against the assailant.

According to the PMOI, one of the three being investigated is Mohammad Hossein Sobhani. He is famous for being an Iranian intelligence agent. He is also one of the people who had testified against the PMOI, and in the legal investigations on the PMOI, he had been interviewed by the DST. During the April 5, 2005 protests in Auvers sur-Oise at the Town Hall against the PMOI, Sobhani chanted with great zeal and hatred. His picture was taken by an L’Echo regional reporter at the time. The fact that Sobhani was the star witness of Judge Bruguière shows to what extent the [June 17th] case stands on weak grounds.