Former Iranian minister Ali Younesi said that senior Iranian officials should fear for their lives due to the infiltration of the Mossad in the Islamic Republic, the UK-based Iranian news site Monoto reported.

Younesi served as the intelligence minister under the former reformist president Mohammed Khatami from 2000 to 2005 and served as an adviser to outgoing President Hassan Rouhani.

In an interview with the reformist Jamaran news website, Younesi said that the Mossad has gained a foothold in Iran due to infighting between the intelligence division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Intelligence Ministry.

“The leaders of the country don’t show any interest in what’s best for the public and their lives, and the Mossad has succeeded, with enticements of influence and money, to penetrate the regime’s security bodies,” Younesi said.

“Now the regime is busy persecuting people who are loyal to the country, particularly from the reformist camp, instead of detecting and detaining the infiltrators working on behalf of Israel. The regime established many intelligence agencies with overlapping tasks, for the purpose of weakening the intelligence ministry.”

“Spy agencies can easily penetrate radical groups and organizations, because in these groups only radicalism matters,” Younesi continued. “Spy agencies pick the right radicals from among their own ranks or elsewhere and make them infiltrate other intelligence agencies. The more radical they are, the quicker they get promoted and reach the top echelon of intelligence agencies.”

Younesi made sure to absolve himself of any blame regarding the Mossad, claiming that all Israeli infiltration occurred after he left his position at the intelligence ministry in 2005.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)