Two individuals arrested in the United States for espionage against Iranian opposition.

Two individuals arrested in the United States for espionage against Iranian opposition.
US authorities prosecute two individuals for acting as agents for the Iranian regime. It announces the US Department of Justice in a statement on its website on Monday.



The accused is Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, 38-year-old Iranian-American citizen, and Majid Ghorbani, 59, Iranian citizen resident in California. They are prosecuted for acting for Iran's government by identifying and gathering information about US residents and US citizens who are members of the Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin (PMOI), writes the US Department of Justice.

The individuals are also prosecuted for secret surveillance of Israeli and Jewish facilities in the United States, according to the statement.

"Doostdar and Ghorbani are alleged to have acted on Iran's behalf, including by monitoring political opponents and engaging in other activities that could risk the Americans. We are trying to put the defendants in charge of their arrest and these charges, "said Deputy Minister of Justice, General Demers.

"This alleged activity shows continued interest in targeting the United States, as well as potential opposition groups active in the United States ... The FBI will continue to identify and act against individuals trying to engage in illegal activities on Iran's behalf, on American soil," adds McGarrity, a senior official at the Justice Department.

Doostfar traveled to the United States from Iran sometime in July 2017 to collect intelligence information about entities and individuals that the government of Iran considered to be enemies of the regime. This included Israeli and Jewish interests as well as individuals associated with the People's Mojahedin (PMOI), an opposition group advocating the foul of the current Iranian government, according to the prosecution.

Ghorbani participated in a PMOI demonstration in New York City in and around September 20, 2017, where he photographed individuals who participated in the protest against the Iranian regime. Ghorbani met Doostfar a few months later in Los Angeles after Doostfar returned from Iran and received 2000 dollars in cash and provided him with 28 images from the New York demonstration. He had also identified the individuals by writing their names on the pictures.

The photos together with a 2000 dollar handwritten receipt were found hidden in Doostfar's luggage when he landed at an American airport heading back to Iran in December 2017.

The prosecution also said that Ghorbani traveled to Iran in or around March 2018 after informing Doostdar that he should go to Iran for a personal briefing.

Ghorbani later participated in a PMOI-related Convention "2018 Iran Freedom Convention for Human Rights" in Washington DC in and around the fourth of May. He photographed during the conference some speakers and participants, including delegations from across the United States, according to the US Department of Justice's statement.

Doost father called him on May 14 to discuss secret methods that he should use to send this information to Iran, adding the statement with reference to the prosecution.