U.S. Has Spies On the Ground in Iran: Former National Security Advisor

Posted by Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports at 3:55 PM on June 24, 2009.

As violence continues on the streets of Tehran, RebelReports has learned that former U.S. National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft has confirmed that the U.S. government has spies on the ground in Iran. Scowcroft made the assertion in an interview to be broadcast on the Al Jazeera program “Fault Lines.” When asked by journalist Josh Rushing if the U.S. has "intelligence operatives on the ground in Iran," Scowcroft replied, "Of course we do."
While it is hardly surprising that the U.S. has its operatives in Iran, it is unusual to see a figure in a position to know state this on the record. New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh and Former Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter both have claimed for years that the U.S. has regularly engaged in covert operations inside of Iran aimed at destabilizing the government. In July 2008, Hersh reported, "the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded."

In the Al Jazeera interview, Scowcroft defended President Obama's position on Iran, which has been roundly criticized by Republicans as weak and ineffective with some characterizing Obama as a “de facto ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.”

Scowcroft tells Al Jazeera: "We don't control Iran. We don't control the government obviously. There is little we can do to change the situation domestically in Iran right now and I think an attempt to change it is more likely to be turned against us and against the people who are demonstrating for more freedom and, therefore, I think we need to look at what we can do best, which is to try to influence Iranian behavior in the region, and with nuclear weapons."

Tagged as: iran, cia, al jazeera, seymour hersh, barack obama, josh rushing, mahmoud ahmadinejad, scott ritter, brent scowcroft

Jeremy Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.