In an unprecedented leak from one of the world’s most secretive regimes, an anonymous source provided 700 pages of Iranian intelligence reports to The Intercept, saying they wanted to “let the world know what Iran is doing in my country Iraq.”
Leaked documents expose Tehran’s vast influence in Iraq, detailing years of painstaking work by Iranian agents to co-opt the country’s leaders and infiltrate every aspect of its political life.
As the U.S. dropped bombs on Islamic State strongholds, Iranian spies cheered. Meanwhile, Tehran funneled arms to the Kurdish Peshmerga and penetrated the inner circle of ISIS leadership.
After Mohamed Morsi was forced from power in Egypt, delegations from the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran’s Quds Force came together in a Turkish hotel in hopes of cooperating against their common enemy, Saudi Arabia. The talks didn’t go well.
In the rubble left by the U.S. war in Iraq, Iranian leaders saw an opportunity to create a new order — one that would never again threaten them the way that Saddam had.
A note from the editors and a video discussion hosted by Jeremy Scahill.
A nuanced portrait of Suleimani emerges from a leaked archive of secret Iranian spy cables obtained by The Intercept.
The spy cables reveal Tehran's deep hatred of the Mojahedin-e Khalq, an exiled Iranian militant group, as well as a sober assessment of its activities around the world.
Iranian intelligence agents set up a network of spies in Iraq, effectively using low-tech tradecraft to find and communicate with them. A key goal was to get spies inside American military bases.
Sara Miran went to Basra to oversee a real estate project. An Iranian-backed militia grabbed her and demanded $2 million.