|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SHIRAZ (News Agencies)-A judiciary official said today that, for more than 15 years, a group of Iranian Jews meeting under the guise of worshiping at synagogues collected military and other sensitive information to pass to Israel. In the first detailed account of the accusations against 13 Iranian Jews on trial in the southern city of Shiraz, Hossein Ali Amiri described a well-organized ring that wooed informants with wild parties, mapped military bases and even planned to contaminate the city's water supply. Amiri, head of the local judiciary, said the state had overwhelming evidence to corroborate the confessions of eight suspects in closed-door hearings that have alarmed foreign Jewish groups, human rights organizations and Western governments.
Four other Iranian Jews, three of whom are free on bail, have yet to appear in court. Nine Muslims have also been charged in the case, including high-level military personnel. Defense lawyer Esmail Nasseri acknowledged some of the suspects had been in contact with Israeli intelligence for more than 15 years, but said they were "religious extremists" who had handed over nothing that could damage Iran's security. Israel denies any connection to the accused. "We have so much direct evidence," Amiri said. "Equipment used for espionage has been seized from the suspects. We also know the place where meetings with Mossad agents were held in third countries. "In another case, we learned of a meeting with known Mossad agents in a European country. . . . Spies normally do not keep copies of intelligence they have sent, but we have seized copies of the exact material." Nasseri characterized the 13 suspects as friends and associates, rather than members of a secret network. They include shopkeepers, a kosher butcher, Hebrew teachers and a rabbi. "We say the most serious case that could be brought against our clients is collaboration with a foreign state," he said. But Amiri painted a picture of a coterie of dedicated spies, some working discreetly since Iran's 1980-88 war with Iraq, to pass war-related information to Israel. Meeting under the cover of worship at Shiraz synagogues, members were assigned missions based on their aptitude, background and personality, he said. One member's sole duty was to assess the value of data, selecting the best for encryption and transmission to Israel. Another, one of the least pious, threw wild parties, winning the trust of his informants or blackmailing them into complicity, he said. Among the ring's other projects, he said, were preparations to sow social discord by disrupting a provincial medical system that serves tribal communities and to contaminate Shiraz's drinking water. Amiri said the trial was closed to protect Iran's national security but also to prevent the majority Muslim population from turning against the city's 6,000-member Jewish community. |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
