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US officials confirm Iranian claim that Israel has funded, armed dissident assassins in Iran, NBC reports.
US officials say the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists have been carried out by an Iranian opposition group with logistical and financial support from the Mossad, NBC News reported Thursday.
The report was based on a testimony by one of Iranian Ayotollah Ali Khamenei's senior advisers who detailed the intimate relationship between Israel and the opposition group MEK, which "two senior US officials" confirmed as accurate.
Khamenei's aide, Mohammad Javad Larijani, was quoted by NBC as saying "They (Israelis) are paying … the Mujahedin. Some of their (MEK) agents … (are) providing Israel with information. And they recruit and also manage logistical support.”
Larijani explained that because Israel does not have "direct access" into Iran, the Mossad works with the Iranian dissident group, which operates in Iran and also has agents in Iraq.
One of the two senior US officials that confirmed the Iranian accusations regarding Israel's close relationship with MEK said that all the "inclinations" in Larijani's remarks were "correct."
Larijani said Iran's proof of Israeli involvement is based on the interrogation of an assassin that unsuccessfully attempted to carry out a similar attack, and the "materials found on him," according to the report.
Despite Iran implicating the CIA in the most recent assassination of nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, near Tehran University, the officials denied any US involvement in the attack.
The Foreign Ministry declined to comment, saying it would not "react to every gossip and report being published worldwide," according to NBC.
Iran believes Israel wants to kill its nuclear scientists in order to thwart its controversial nuclear program, which Israel believes is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon.
While not responding to NBC's report, MEK summarily denied any involvement in the assassination of Iranian scientists after Roshan was killed when a car bomb was latched to his car by a passing motorcyclist.
The group, the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), has long been a designated terrorist organization by the United States after killing US personnel in Iran in the 1970s, and supporting the takeover of the US embassy in Iran following the Islamic Revolution.
The report does not mark the first time since Roshan's assassination that US media has reported that the US believes Israel is working with a terror group to carry out the attacks. Last month, TIME magazine reported similar claims according to US intelligence officials.
US officials say the assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists have been carried out by an Iranian opposition group with logistical and financial support from the Mossad, NBC News reported Thursday.
The report was based on a testimony by one of Iranian Ayotollah Ali Khamenei's senior advisers who detailed the intimate relationship between Israel and the opposition group MEK, which "two senior US officials" confirmed as accurate.
Khamenei's aide, Mohammad Javad Larijani, was quoted by NBC as saying "They (Israelis) are paying … the Mujahedin. Some of their (MEK) agents … (are) providing Israel with information. And they recruit and also manage logistical support.”
Larijani explained that because Israel does not have "direct access" into Iran, the Mossad works with the Iranian dissident group, which operates in Iran and also has agents in Iraq.
One of the two senior US officials that confirmed the Iranian accusations regarding Israel's close relationship with MEK said that all the "inclinations" in Larijani's remarks were "correct."
Larijani said Iran's proof of Israeli involvement is based on the interrogation of an assassin that unsuccessfully attempted to carry out a similar attack, and the "materials found on him," according to the report.
Despite Iran implicating the CIA in the most recent assassination of nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, near Tehran University, the officials denied any US involvement in the attack.
The Foreign Ministry declined to comment, saying it would not "react to every gossip and report being published worldwide," according to NBC.
Iran believes Israel wants to kill its nuclear scientists in order to thwart its controversial nuclear program, which Israel believes is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon.
While not responding to NBC's report, MEK summarily denied any involvement in the assassination of Iranian scientists after Roshan was killed when a car bomb was latched to his car by a passing motorcyclist.
The group, the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), has long been a designated terrorist organization by the United States after killing US personnel in Iran in the 1970s, and supporting the takeover of the US embassy in Iran following the Islamic Revolution.
The report does not mark the first time since Roshan's assassination that US media has reported that the US believes Israel is working with a terror group to carry out the attacks. Last month, TIME magazine reported similar claims according to US intelligence officials.
http://www.jpost.com....aspx?id=257168
