Mohammad Reza Madhi

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Dr. Mohammad Reza Madhi (Persian: دکتر محمدرضا مدحی; died 8 August 2021[1]) was (reportedly) an Iranian intelligence agent and the subject of a 2011 Iranian television documentary titled A Diamond for Deception (Persian: الماسی برای فریب). He has been described in the Iranian state media both as an agent who infiltrated the Iranian Green opposition movement, and as an actual supporter of the movement who was detained because of his activities.[2]

Overview

In January 2010, an article appeared in the

Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi were "crazy."[3] The article, however, was called into question. Laura Rozen, writing in Politico.com, could find no references to Madhi being a former Iran intelligence chief other than "those generated by the article itself;" and author Maximilian Wechsler, was "a former documented Czech-Australian double agent and informant."[4] Another doubter, Golnaz Esfandiari of rferl.org, (writing after the release of the infiltration documentary) stated that RFE/RL's Persian service, Radio Farda, spoke with Madhi in early 2010 "but decided not to air any interviews because the editors felt Madhi was not credible and they were not able to verify his many claims."[2]

A year later, Madhi appeared in a A Diamond for Deception, a documentary by Iranian state television aired just a few days before the second anniversary of

Western countries have spent huge sums of money to keep the Iranian opposition alive, and former Iranian diplomat Mehrdad Khonsari
, was involved in the efforts to create an Iranian government in exile. [2]

These claims have also come under doubt. The "ultra-conservative" Iranian newspaper Kayhan published an article entitled "Confessions of an arrested member of the anti-revolutionaries," in which Madhi is the arrested member and his remarks are not exposes but confessions.[5] The IRNA state news agency described the documentary prior to its broadcast as the confessions to authorities of a man deceived by the CIA.[5]

According to the editor of the opposition Khodnevis website, Nikahang Kowsar, who had been in contact with Madhi:

"It is too soon to release the truth about Madhi. He might have acted as a double agent and it might be similar to the case of Shahram Amiri, the nuclear scientist who Iran claimed was their man, but some others said he returned to Iran after the government threatened his family in Iran.[5]

According to the Tehran Bureau, documentary notwithstanding, there is no evidence either of a connection between Madhi and the Iranian Green Movement's leaders (Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi), or of any meetings between Madhi and U.S. officials.[6]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ سردار محمدرضا مدحی جانباز دفاع مقدس دارفانی را وداع گفت (in Persian)
  2. ^ a b c Alleged Iranian Agent Who Infiltrated Opposition Claims He Met With Hillary Clinton| rferl.org| 10 June 2011
  3. ^ Ex-spy chief says Iran government about to collapse| bangkokpost.com| 3 January 2010
  4. ^ Iran. Beware propaganda| Laura Rozen| 3 January 2010
  5. ^ a b c d e Iran claims agent infiltrated opposition and foreign intelligence units, Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian, 10 June 2011
  6. ^ IRI vs. 'Government in Exile': Foiling a Plot or Trying to Discredit Greens?, by Muhammad Sahimi, PBS, 11 June 2011
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