IRGC Arrest of Prominent Anti-Regime Activist
https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/iran-file/iran-file-october-21-2019?
Iran highlighted its willingness to target opposition figures abroad. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization *announced that it arrested exiled anti-regime activist Ruhollah Zam on October 14. Zam had been living in Paris, France, where he operated anti-regime outlet Amad News. The IRGC stated that the arrest involved deception and surprise. Iranian officials *have celebrated the IRGC and its operation in recent days.
The IRGC likely coaxed Zam to travel to Iraq, where pro-Iran agents detained him. An unidentified individual reportedly lured Zam to travel to Iraq under the false pretense that he would meet with prominent Iraqi Shia cleric Ali al Sistani. A source from Sistani’s office *denied any plans for a meeting. The French Interior Ministry confirmed that Zam left France for Iraq. The regime has boasted of its ability to feed Zam false information before when it published a *documentary on the matter in March 2019. An unidentified Iraqi source claimed that Iraqi intelligence agents arrested Zam when he arrived in Baghdad at Iran’s request and transferred him to Iranian interrogators. The IRGC then moved Zam to Iran and arrested him.
Zam’s arrest may reflect the IRGC Intelligence Organization’s increasingly external focus. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered structural changes to the IRGC in May 2019. These included shifting the IRGC Intelligence Organization to a more external focus, potentially including targeting opposition figures abroad. The regime accused Zam of working with the US and Israel to spread anti-regime sentiment and likely perceived him as participating in the US maximum pressure campaign against Iran.
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