Ahmad Mogharebi

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Headline Kayhan on December 26, 1977 - General Mogharebi executed

Ahmad Mogharebi (* 1921 in Tehran ; † December 25, 1977 in Tehran) was a high-ranking general in the armed forces of Iran and a Soviet spy .

prehistory

The exposure of communist spies in the West was usually associated with a "political earthquake". The discovery of the Soviet spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg fueled domestic discussion about communism in the United States . The discovery of Kim Philby rocked British intelligence. And the discovery of Günter Guillaume led to the resignation of the then Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt .

The case of the Iranian General Ahmad Mogharebi was on a comparable level. The consequences of its exposure were dramatic for the Soviet Union, since the KGB had lost its most important source in General Mogharebi. The consequences for the Iranian military were no less dramatic, thanks to General Mogharebi, the Soviet troops were informed of all important military plans.

recruitment

Ahmad Mogharebi had served the KGB for more than 30 years before his arrest . Mogharebi was enlisted in Soviet espionage by Colonel Tarrass. The Second World War was over, Mogharebi attended the Iranian officers' school and the Soviet Union tried to expand the political influence it had had in Iran since the times of the tsars by founding the communist Tudeh party . The Soviet Union was one of the victorious nations of the war, and Soviet propaganda mastered the art of showing that it was thanks to it that fascism suffered an historic defeat. For quite a few young Iranian officer candidates , the Soviet Union was a natural ally. And the events surrounding the overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh in the context of Operation Ajax only reinforced this view.

Ahmad Mogharebi must also have been convinced that he was serving a “good cause”, because the payment for the information provided was initially quite low. Mogharebi made a career in the Iranian military and rose to head of strategic planning. Every military plan, every defense position, every plan to build garrisons or military bases ran across his desk. He soon became the top source of Soviet intelligence in Iran, and what he probably started out of idealism has now turned into a way to supplement his income.

assumptions

The KGB in Iran was housed in the building complex of the Soviet embassy. In the 1970s, more than 8,000 "Soviet experts" were working on a wide variety of projects and a corresponding number of KGB agents were required to monitor the "experts" with regard to their allegiance to the line. One of the targets of the Soviet KGB operations was the wiretapping systems operated by the United States on the Iranian border with the Soviet Union. But in other respects too, Iran was a pleasant field of activity for KGB agents. Vladimir Anatoljewitsch Kusitschkin describes everyday life in the KGB in Tehran as "an atmosphere of long holidays". Life in Tehran was pleasant. Maxim Gorky's grandson was among the diplomats in Tehran .

The counter-espionage department of the SAVAK , headed by General Manutschehr Hashemi, had acquired an office building opposite the entrance to the Soviet embassy in order to better monitor the entrance to the embassy. A doctor's office was located on the ground floor, the rest of the building was used by SAVAK agents.

Through an agent named Aliof, whom the SAVAK had smuggled into the Soviet embassy, ​​the SAVAK learned that KGB agents regularly met a liaison with the Iranian army on Naft Avenue. A detailed analysis of the residents of Naft Avenue and the surrounding area revealed that three army officers lived there. All three officers were put under 24-hour surveillance and it soon became clear that a man walking his dog in the evening had given something to a KGB agent. It was General Ahmad Mogharebi.

Mohammad Reza Shah was informed immediately, but the Shah insisted that Mogharebi should only be arrested if there was solid evidence of his betrayal.

The exposure

Apartments near Mogharebi's house were rented by SAVAK agents and KGB agents were observed to park near the house and leave after a few minutes of waiting. In some cases, agents also got out of the car, left an envelope on vacant lot, got back in their car, and drove off again.

When Mogharebi traveled to the United States in May 1977 to visit his children who were living there, SAVAK agents broke into the house, searched it thoroughly and found nothing that warranted arrest. Only one strange-looking machine, the true function of which was hidden from the SAVAK agents, was noticed.

In September 1977 another car appeared near Mogharebi's house with two KGB agents and this time Mogharebi came out of the house too. The KGB agent got out of the car, handed Mogharebi an envelope, and got back into the car. Seconds later, Mogharebi and the KGB agents were surrounded by SAVAK agents and arrested. Mogharebi had received 30,000 tomans ($ 4,000) in cash from KGB agents. The KGB agents were released from prison the next morning. They were given 48 hours to leave Iran.

The end

Mogharebi was taken to a SAVAK house for questioning and initially denied all allegations. But later he revealed why he could go undetected for so many years. He had agreed with the KGB that he would never meet a KGB agent in person and that he would only relay information from his home. For this reason, the KGB had developed the possibility of wireless transmission of information from Mogharebi's house to the KGB cars that were alternately parked nearby. In the house and in the car, the transmitter and receiver were switched on at the same time and switched off again immediately after the information had been transmitted. The "strange looking device" discovered during the house search in May 1977 was obviously a transmitter and the associated receiver was located in the confiscated KGB car.

Ahmad Mogharebi was convicted of treason sentenced to death and at December 25, 1977 executed .

After the Islamic Revolution

When the SAVAK offices were stormed during the Islamic Revolution , talks took place between the representatives of the nascent Islamic Republic and the SAVAK Office VIII, which is responsible for counter-espionage, such as with the employees of Office VIII and those stored in the office safes secret files should be processed. The files stayed where they were, and Office VIII staff continued to work as if nothing had happened. The Soviet secret service was also surprised to see the radio frequencies of the Iranian secret service, which had only been interrupted for a short time, active again.

However, the files of the Ahmad Mogharebi case suddenly appeared in the hands of the People's Mojahedin , who had close ties to the Soviet embassy during the days of the Islamic Revolution. A telephone conversation between a representative of the People's Mojahedin and a member of the Soviet embassy regarding the delivery of the Mogharebi files had been overheard by a SAVAK agent from Bureau VIII. In exchange for the Mogharebi file, the People's Moschahedin had been offered the list of all CIA agents known to the KGB in Iran. When the exchange was supposed to take place, the representative of the People's Modschahedin Saadati and the KGB agents who appeared for the exchange were arrested. The Mogharebi file remained in the hands of the Iranian secret service.

Individual evidence

  • Abbas Milani: Eminent Persians. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse 2008 (two volumes).
  1. a b Milani , p. 465.
  2. Milani , p. 462.
  3. Milani , p. 463.
  4. a b Milani , p. 464.
  5. a b Milani , p. 466.
  1. Kuzichkin , p. 200.
  2. Kuzichkin , p. 147.

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