Ministry of Intelligence

Islamic Republic Of Iran Intelligence Ministry
VAJA
وزارت اطّلاعات جمهوری اسلامی ایران
Agency overview
Formed 18 August 1984 (1984-08-18)
Preceding agency
Jurisdiction Iran
Employees Classified
(DoD estimate: +30,000)[1]
Agency executive
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The Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: وِزارَتِ اِطّلاعات جُمهوریِ اِسلامیِ ایران Vezarat-e Ettela'at Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran) is the primary intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a member of the Iran Intelligence Community. It is also known as VAJA and previously as VEVAK (Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniyat-e Keshvar) or alternatively MOIS. It was initially known as SAVAMA, when it took over the previous regime's intelligence apparatus. The ministry is one of the three "sovereign" ministerial bodies of Iran due to nature of its work at home and abroad.[2]

History

Information on the ministry is often difficult to obtain.[3] Initially, the organization was known as SAVAMA,[4] and intended to replace SAVAK, Iran's intelligence agency during the rule of the Shah, but it is unclear how much continuity there is between the two organizations—while their role is similar, their underlying ideology is radically different. It is suspected that the new government was initially eager to purge SAVAK elements from the new organization, but that pragmatism eventually prevailed, with many experienced SAVAK personnel being retained in their roles. Former SAVAK staff are believed to have been important in the ministry's infiltration of left-wing dissident groups and of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party.

The formation of the ministry was proposed by Saeed Hajjarian to the government of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and then the parliament. There were debates about which branch of the state should oversee the new institution, and the other options apart from the presidency were the Judiciary system, the Supreme Leader, and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Finally, the government could get the approval of Ayatollah Khomeini to make it a ministry, but a restriction was added to the requirements of the minister, needing him to be a doctor of Islam.

The ministry was finally founded on 18 August 1984, abandoning many small intelligence agencies that were formed in different governmental organizations. The five ministers since the founding of the ministry, have been Mohammad Reyshahri (under Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi), Ali Fallahian (under President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani), Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi (under President Mohammad Khatami, resigned after a year), Ali Younessi (under President Khatami, until 24 August 2005), Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejehei (under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from 24 August 2005 to 24 August 2009) and Heyder Moslehi (under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from 29 August 2009 to 15 August 2013).

"Chain" assassinations

In late 1998, three dissident writers, a political leader and his wife were killed in Iran in the span of two months.[5]

After great public outcry and journalistic investigation in Iran and publicity internationally,[6] prosecutors announced in mid-1999 that one Saeed Emami had led "rogue elements" in Iran's intelligence ministry in the killings, but that Emami was now dead, having committed suicide in prison.[7] In a trial that was "dismissed as a sham by the victims' families and international human rights organisations",[8] three intelligence ministry agents were sentenced in 2001 to death and twelve others to prison terms for murdering two of the victims. Two years later, the Iranian Supreme Court reduced two of the death sentences to life.[9]

In 1999, critics of the Iranian government accused "rogue elements" of the ministry for the infamous serial murders of dissident writers and intellectuals, including assassination of Iranian political dissidents inside and outside the country.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ گزارش پنتاگون دربارۀ وزارت اطلاعات ایران Radio France Internationale
  2. ↑ al Labbad, Mustafa (15 August 2013). "Rouhani's Cabinet Seeks New Balance in Iranian Policies". www.al-monitor.com. Al-Monitor. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Iran, SAVAMA
  4. ↑ SAVAMA
  5. ↑ Douglas, Jehl (4 December 1998). "Killing of 3 Rebel Writers Turns Hope to Fear in Iran". The New York Times. p. A6. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Sahebi, Sima (12 December 2002). "You will answer, one day". Iranian.com. San Francisco. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "Ganji identified Fallahian as the 'master key' in chain murders". Iran Press Service. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Iranian killers spared death penalty". BBC News-Middle East. BBC News. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Iran - 2003 Annual report". Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders). 7 April 2003. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  10. ↑ The Serial Murders, 28 November 2005 Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran.

Coordinates: 35°45′04″N 51°27′25″E / 35.751°N 51.457°E / 35.751; 51.457

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