had managed to penetrate and foil an American plot to form an Iranian government-in-exile that would organize opposition to the regime.
Such a government-in-exile has been much debated among Iranian opposition figures in the West over the years, but no American administration of either party has shown any interest in the idea.
The “documentary” appeared more concerned with portraying Iran’s Intelligence Ministry as a force of brilliant and skilled operatives that could penetrate any foreign plot against Iran, a constant theme pushed since Heydar Moslehi became intelligence minister almost two years ago.
However, the television program was vague and left many viewers with the impression that Iran had only stumbled upon the government-in-exile scheme and kidnaped the Iranian leading it, Mohammad-Reza Madhi. It was only after the broadcast that officials of the Intelligence Ministry told reporters that Madhi had been inserted into the United States by Iran and had been working for Iran from the time the government-in-exile was first broached.
The so-called documentary, “A Diamond for Deceit,” was aired last Wednesday.
Madhi has long described himself as a retired officer of the Pasdaran. In the broadcast, he said he was involved in the gem trade in Thailand and from there infiltrated the opposition.
Radio Farda said it interviewed Madhi a year ago and that he attacked the government, asserting that officials were corrupt and linked to drug trafficking. He told Radio Farda he fled Iran because officials were trying to frame him on rape charges. Radio Farda said it never broadcast the interview because it did not find him credible.
In last week’s broadcast, Madhi claimed that the Americans recruited him to lead a government-in-exile. He said American officials had taken him to meet with both Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. US State Department spokesman Alan Eyre told Radio Farda no US official had ever had a meeting with Madhi.
In the television show, Madhi said he was recruited by the Americans for his “religious and social background,” but was eventually “rescued” by Iran and brought back home.
The state news agency described the film as “the confessions of an arrested anti-revolutionary element” and referred to Madhi as a CIA “dupe” and “pawn.”
But Intelligence Ministry officials quickly moved to correct that impression left with viewers of the “documentary.” They said Madhi was an Intelligence Ministry agent from the very beginning and had been successfully infiltrated into the opposition abroad by Iran.
The state news agency then carried a new story describing Madhi as an Iranian operative from the get-go. It said, “The documentary is an account of our intelligence system’s infiltration into the heart of the expatriate opposition.”
The film, the state news agency said, “demonstrates the power and competence of the unsung Soldiers of the Lord of the Age.” Lord of the Age is one title for the 12th Imam who is in occultation. “Soldiers of the Lord of the Age” is the Intelligence Ministry’s preferred term for its operatives.
The state news agency’s second story said the film shows how Iran’s intelligence system “mocks the intelligence establishment of the USA and the West by its massive intelligence knowledge and the measures it takes beyond the geographical borders of Iran.”