Iran’s regime launching intelligence stations across the Balkans

Iran’s regime launching intelligence stations across the Balkans

Iranian regime embassy in Tirana

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Dec 21, 2018 - Yesterday, Albania expelled two Iranian diplomats, including Tehran’s ambassador to Tirana, Reuters reported.

Albania has expelled Iran’s ambassador and another diplomat for “damaging its national security”, Tirana’s foreign ministry said to Reuters.

While Albania did not identify the two individuals, and it’s still not clear whether they have already left the NATO member country, it’s known that Gholamhossein Mohammadnia has been Tehran’s ambassador to Tirana since August 2016.

Back in February, the Security and Counterterrorism Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran issued a statement describing how the Iranian Regime is deploying Quds Force agents to Albania following the relocation of about 3,000 members of the Iranian opposition People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) to this county.

The NCRI statement singles out two Iranian individuals:

1. Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, the now-expelled Iranian ambassador to Tirana and reveals that he is in fact an agent of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS).
2. Mostafa Roodaki, a veteran agent of the Ministry of Intelligence, and the first secretary of the Iranian embassy in Albania.

While the identity of the second Iranian diplomat is still not clear, some pundits believe that it could be Roodaki.

According to NCRI’s statement, Mostafa Roodaki oversaw the intelligence station at the Iranian embassy in Austria in the early 2010’s. At the end of his mission in Austria, he was promoted and became responsible for intelligence stations in all European countries.

“Since the time he was in Austria, Mostafa Roodaki has been working on the PMOI’s case and was in contact with a number of ex-members of PMOI (now working for the regime). In this regard, he had occasional trips to France. By paying money, Roodaki uses ex-members to carry out MOIS conspiracies against the PMOI,” the statement continues.

Considering that all Iranian regime terrorist activities in Europe could have been under his supervision as a senior MOIS official, his résumé is a very good match for being the second Iranian diplomat expelled from Albania.

But Iranian regime activities run deeper.

In fact, in the last two years the Iranian regime has been developing its terrorist network under the guise of diplomatic missions all over the Balkan countries.

Media report indicate that a few days ago, American sources revealed the Iranian regime has established an intelligence station specifically designated to control its terrorist activities in Balkan countries.

This recent development has followed the Iranian regimes earlier failed terror plots on European soil, especially after the fiasco of a June bombing plot against the annual Iranian opposition convention in Paris.

American intelligence sources confirm that the Iranian regime has secretly scattered its agents in counties like Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Kosovo to create the necessary logistical support for its future terror plots.

But why the Balkan countries, the question begs.

The strategic location of the Balkan gives Iran an easy transit to the mainland Europe and it appears that over the last three decades, Tehran has meticulously and gradually transformed this region to a home for its sleeping cells.

It’s evident that the Iranian regime wouldn’t balk at recruiting local individuals. The 2011 terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy in Bosnia was carried out by a Serbian national, Mevlid Jašarević, with help from his accomplices in a place called the “Jihadi Village.”

In Balkan, Lebanese Hezbollah is essentially playing the same role it plays in South America. Hezbollah members fly to Balkan countries with European asylum seeker passports. These European passports increase their mobility and chances to succeed in their malign objectives.

The 2012 terrorist attack in Bulgaria was carried out by two individuals with Canadian and Australian passports. According to the Bulgarian interior minister, there is well-grounded evidence that Hezbollah was behind it.

Recent Iranian activities on European soil has created much concern among these countries and despite Europe’s dedication to  the JCPOA and interest in Iranian petrodollars, a recent United Nations Security Council meeting showed that even European patience with the Iranian regime’s malicious activities is running thin.