US Arrests 2 Iranians over َ‘Espionage’ Charges
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Two Iranian men were indicted on Monday for allegedly spying for Tehran in the United States.
Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, 38, a dual US-Iranian citizen, and Majid Qorbani, 59, an Iranian citizen and resident of California, have been accused of conducting surveillance at a Jewish facility and gathering information on backers of anti-Iran MKO terrorist group, the US Justice Department claimed, according to Reuters.
Both were arrested on August 9.
The indictment alleges Doostdar traveled from Iran to the United States in July 2017 to collect intelligence about entities considered to be enemies of the Iranian government, including Israeli and Jewish interests as well as people associated with MKO, it said.
The US Justice Department said, "Doostdar conducted surveillance in July 2017 of a Jewish facility in Chicago, the Rohr Chabad House, including photographing the security features".
Qorbani attended an MKO rally in New York on Sept. 20, 2017, to protest the current Iranian government, taking photographs of the participants, which he later passed on to Doostdar and was paid about $2,000, according to the Justice Department.
The MKO - listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community - fled Iran in 1986 for Iraq and was given a camp by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
More than 17,000 Iranians, many of them civilians, have been killed at the hands of the MKO in different acts of terrorism including bombings in public places, and targeted killings.