Ministry of Intelligence of Iran
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The Ministry of Intelligence (وزارت اطلاعات), is the primary intelligence agency of Iran. It is an important part of the Iranian government's security apparatus, and is well funded and equipped. Before a recent thorough overhaul in the organization, it has been accused of being involved in terrorist activities, specifically of training and funding Hezbollah.
Information on the ministry is often difficult to obtain. The organization was 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 mujtahid.
The ministry was finally founded on August 18, 1984, abandoning many small intelligence agencies that were formed in different governmental organization. The four 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), and Ali Younessi (under President Khatami).
External Links
- Comprehensive site on Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS a.k.a. VEVAK) (http://www.iranterror.com)