The part of the 64 page report on the “Principal Areas of Operations” of MOIS says that “in Europe, MOIS maintains a significant network in Germany.” In January 2011, Hans-Peter Friedrich, Germany’s interior minister, and Heinz Fromm, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (the German equivalent of the FBI), reported that the main responsibility of MOIS is “monitoring the opposition groups in and out of Iran and fighting against them.”
According to their report, MOIS also has been collecting information on politics, economy, and science in Germany, and it adds, “Most intelligence activities against Germany are carried out by this ministry [MOIS].” The report also notes: “The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence is seeking to attract German citizens to cooperate with the ministry. This applies to citizens who often travel to Iran for visiting their families or for business.”
Vienna, the capital city of Austria is allegedly full of MOIS agents. It is because of the continuous good relationship between Iran and Austria since the Revolution—after the U.S. hostage crisis, which resulted in condemnation of the Islamic Republic by many countries and secluded Iran in many ways, Austria was one of the few countries that was not concerned. It appears that Iran takes advantage of this relationship by deploying its intelligence officers in Austria. It has been reported that MOIS agents identify anti–Islamic Republic political activists and threaten to silence them.
According to a report produced by the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) on Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) , psychological warfare against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) has been one of the main objectives of the MOIS since the 1991 Persian Gulf War against Iraq.
The 64 pages report underscored: “MOIS recruited former members of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) in Europe and used them to launch a disinformation campaign against MEK.”
Photo: Iranian activists supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran shout slogans against the regime in Iran during a demonstration in front of the Iranian regime embassy in Berlin (file photo)
The annual report by the Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) published September 2012 stated that: “MOIS’ main duty is to stake out and keep watch over opposition groups inside and outside the country. The Iranian regime’s spying activities against Germany are mainly carried out by the MOIS. Another main subject of this regime’s spying activities includes identifying exiled dissidents among Iranian communities living in Germany numbering at over 50,000. In this regard, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) are specifically in the center of the Iranian regime’s spying activities.”