of the program’s text. Some of the comments from the accused spy are made by him in English and some in Farsi. Most of the quotes below attributed to him, however, are voiced by an Iranian translator. Much information is also conveyed by an announcer. So, it is difficult to know how much of what was conveyed is actually from the accused spy. One of the problems is apparent early on. The announcer says the man joined the military and started right off in intelligence. But, in English, the accused man says he entered the Marine Corp as an infantryman.
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Hekmati, in English: My name is Amir Mirzai-Hekmati.
Announcer: In August 2001, the named individual begins work in the American military’s intelligence section.
Hekmati, in English: I joined the US Marine Corps as an infantryman and my first training was boot camp for three months
Hekmati: (translator): In 2001, I finished high school and I decided to join the American military. In August 2001, I officially wore the American military uniform and I underwent a variety of military and intelligence training courses. And when they realized that I knew a little Arabic and Persian, they said that they wanted to send me to a university to learn Arabic.
Announcer: Hekmati was now turned into an intelligence analyst, who enters Iraq under the guise of a military man. Hekmati’s mission in Iraq was to identify those Iraqi officials who had inclinations toward America. By spending some money, America could turn them into its own puppets.
Hekmati (translator): I would examine the views of Iraqi officials about America and the presence of American military men in Iraq. Our mission was to find individuals, among the other side’s leaders and officials, who were inclined towards America and to induce them so that whatever happened, they would support America and its military men. After our reports were sent to military intelligence, security agents would hold secret meetings with these officials and would try to establish closer ties with them.
Announcer: Hekmati has to find individuals who fulfill America’s aims for its presence on Iraqi territory.
Hekmati (translator): The reason was to control that countries’ affairs as much as possible, especially the question of oil. By capturing Iraq’s oil wells, America wanted to bankrupt OPEC and to do something to ensure that oil would only be traded in dollars so that America would have more power in the face of China and Russia. One of the reasons for America’s military presence in Iraq is for it to have a presence in the Middle East and, by infiltrating Islamic groups, to infiltrate Muslim people and to create schisms. America came [to the Middle East] under the guise of establishing democracy, but its aim was to secularize. This was why it had to infiltrate among Muslims. One of America’s other aims was to control the countries of the Middle East, including Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain and even Tunisia, so that Iran does not serve as a model for these countries.
Announcer: Hekmati very quickly proves himself to his seniors so that immediately after the end of a several-month mission in Iraq, he is employed by several intelligence companies. DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, belongs to the American Defense Department and it employed Hekmati from 2005 to 2007. [DARPA is not an intelligence agency; it is tasked to advance technological innovations for warfare.] After DARPA, Hekmati goes to Kuma, a computer company that receives money from the CIA in order to design special games and films for changing public opinion in the Middle East and to distribute them for free. [Kuma offers about 150 games via the Internet. Some involve Middle East scenarios, but most tackle World War II combat, auto races, fighting dinosaurs, shooting up Nazis, combating mobsters and playing street soccer.]
Hekmati, in Persian: And the aim of these games was to persuade the people of Iraq and Afghanistan and all the world that what the American forces were doing in those countries is good. The head of Kuma rang me and said: I obtained your resume via DARPA and we have a program that we’d like you to cooperate with.
Announcer: The change of companies over a few years is so that Hekmati can receive various kinds of intelligence training under the guise of working for different companies without his friends and associates realizing.
Announcer: The Iranian desk at the CIA, which has suffered consecutive defeats in its confrontation with the Iranian intelligence service, sees a project for infiltration [into Iran] as vital and pursues it with full urgency and seriousness. This is why Hekmati’s big mission, which is to travel to Iran, is conveyed to him at the Springhall Hotel in Washington State. [Probably the SpringHill Suites just outside Washington, DC.]
Hekmati, in Persian: I went there and a gentleman came. We sat together in the hotel for an hour and a half. He asked me some questions. He said: We have a plan for you. We can start you off in the business. If you’re successful, we will give you more training, more work. You will travel more. This requires that you go to Iran. Are you ready or not? I said: I am ready. [He said,] You go and become a source of information for the [Iranian] Intelligence Ministry. You go there for three weeks, give them this information, receive some money and return.
Announcer: Hekmati is given access to the most sensitive intelligence systems, including Jvix, and is sent to Bagram base in Afghanistan in order to gather the information he needs for Project Infiltrate. This is where different networks and the extensive circles of Iranian intelligence, which have the activities at Bagram base under careful watch, become aware of the presence of an American of Iranian origin at Bagram base.
Hekmati (translator): I had a number of flights out of Bagram, one was from Bagram to Dubai. I was in a hotel in Dubai for two days and then I got a direct ticket and came to Tehran.
Hekmati, in Persian: Any intelligence service needs information. Its mission is to gather information. Any intelligence service has its sources and needs sources and information. It would be particularly advantageous for Iran, which is America’s enemy, to know what kind of information America has about Iran. Their [CIA] plan was to begin by giving, [and] losing some valuable information free of charge, so that the [Iranian] Intelligence Ministry would then see that it is good material and then contact me.
Announcer: But the Iranian intelligence service, by assessing the accuracy of the information and through extensive investigations, recognizes the deception. And the plots of those who wish this land ill were foiled once again.