'Mossad spy an attempt to create crisis'

Yaakov Lappin , THE JERUSALEM POST

The Iranian regime is attempting to manufacture an internal security crisis with the arrest of a man accused of spying for the Mossad, an American analyst of the Islamic Republic said on Sunday.

On Saturday, an Iranian citizen appeared in court to face charges of spying for Israel in exchange for money. The Iranian authorities have refused to disclose the man's name. According to Iranian media reports, the presiding judge was shown "spying equipment" which the prosecution claims was provided by the Mossad.

"The Iranian regime typically arrests people on trumped-up spying charges and stages show trials. Such trials create an air of national security crisis that Teheran uses to justify brutal crackdowns on Iranian oppositionists," said Professor Raymond Tanter, President of the Iran Policy Committee.

The Committee is comprised of former White House officials, academics, and former high-ranking military figures who believe that Iranian opposition movements should be better supported by the US.

Tanter said the recent arrest in Iran could be linked to a demonstration by a prominent Iranian opposition movement in Paris on Saturday.

"I witnessed one such group of oppositionists, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq [MEK], hold a rally in Paris today, 28 June 2008, which attracted almost 70,000 supporters," he said.

The MEK is guided by a unique ideology made up of Marxism and Islamism, and has several thousand members, some of them armed and stationed in military camps in Iraq. The organization is sworn to the overthrow of the Iranian regime. It has been designated by the US as a terrorist organization.

Tanter said the Iranian government may have anticipated Saturday's large rally in Paris, which may "have prompted the regime to arrest one person as a demonstration of its opposition to the MEK and a signal that it is about to step up its oppression. Show trials are but one element of Tehran's strategy of escalating oppression."

He added that "linking the arrested person to Israel is a way to hit two birds with one stone - Israel and the main Iranian opposition. Of
course, there is no truth to the charge that the Israel has anything to do with the Iranian opposition, which is indigenous, independent,
and self-sustaining."

Dr. Ephraim Kam, of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said arrests in Iran of individuals accused of spying
for Israel were uncommon. "Did they invent this or did they catch him? We can only guess," he said.