Report: Dutch Intelligence Agency Successfully Pentrates Iranian Nuclear Program
The Dutch secret service the AIVD has kept an eye on Iran’s nuclear program for a while now. It has viewed Iranian activities with suspicion, and warned not too long ago that Iranian spies were active in the Netherlands.
According to reports, the AIVD has now succeeded in striking back against Tehran; according to insiders, the secret service has succeeded in infiltrating in the country’s nuclear program.
The program to infiltrate and sabotage Iran’s nuclear program started several years ago and was, according to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf “extremely successful.” However, it was halted “recently in connection with plans for an impending US air attack.”
One of the agents involved, who was able to infiltrate the Iranian industry under the supervision of the AIVD, was recently recalled because the US was thought to be making a decision within weeks to attack Iran with unmanned aircraft. Among the potential targets were said to be not only nuclear plants, but also military installations that have been brought to light partly by the agency of the AIVD,” the newspaper reported.
“Information from the AIVD operation has in recent years been shared with the American CIA secret service,” the paper continued. “Various supplies could also be sabotaged and stopped. These were parts for missiles and launching equipment.”
The article should be considered quite trustworthy; it was written by Joost de Haas, who has good contacts in the intelligence world.
Michael,
Honest question: why should we take this story seriously when no other Dutch news media seem to want to touch it with a ten-foot pole?
Also, do you have any citations to back up your trust in Joost de Haas? I wont’t dispute that he is well informed, but a cursory glance at the Telegraaf archives indicate that he’s no stranger to the publication’s well-documented sensationalism.
In my opinion the Dutch newspaper article which states that the US will attack Iran in weeks has no credibility. It has been widely reported in the Israeli press and publicly acknowledged by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the US has told Israel that it is against any attack on Iran at the present time. Israel had requested that the US supply it with tanker planes which would have been used for mid-air refueling in Israel’s planned attack, but the request was turned down. Apparently, the view of US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that at present an attack on Iran would not be in America’s best interests is now administration policy. It looks as if the neo-con dream of bombing Iran before the end of the Bush term is now dead. The present Israeli position was revealed by (leaked to) Ma’ariv reporter Ben Caspit, and reported on the front page of that paper at the end of August. The Israelis will give the US and the international community until 2010 to resolve the Iran nuclear question to its satisfaction. If it is not resolved by then, Israel will act militarily and unilaterally. The Dutch article states that the US attack on Iran will be accomplished with unmanned aircraft only. Unmanned aircraft are not capable of inflicting the serious damage to the Iranian nuclear installations or military facilities that would be required in any American assault. This fact alone leads one to wonder about the reliability of the Dutch article. I do not think that this unsourced information is credible given what is known about the American and Israeli positions. It will be up to the next President to decide if America will attack Iran or will support an Israeli bombing.
Whow…
The Dutch AIVD en the CIA??I din’t know that they are so good.