With all the stories of continued Iranian unrest, human rights abuses and the complications for Western nuclear diplomacy, beware what seems a notable uptick, too, in very fishy stories of the Chalabi/U.S.-soldiers-will-be-greeted-with-flowers type emerging as well.
For instance, take this piece today in the Bangkok Post by one Maximilian Wechsler, claiming to be an exclusive interview with a former Iran intelligence chief, Mohammad Reza Madhi, who the article says was supposedly Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's right-hand man.
Problem is, there is nothing except this article, being circulated by Iranian monarchist exiles (Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah, has recently been traveling in Bangkok, the article notes and sources tell POLITICO) to show that Madhi is what he says he is. The article describes Madhi as "Iran's intelligence chief," while there are no other references that could be found to Madhi having any such position besides those generated by the article itself.
And a bit of digging shows that the writer of Sunday's Bangkok Post "exclusive," Wechsler, is himself a former documented Czech-Australian double agent and informant who, after he broke ranks with the Australian intelligence services, landed in Thailand and reportedly worked as an agent provocateur, among other gigs:
According to an intelligence officer, who knew Wechsler at that time and saw him at the Australian Embassy, he was also an agent provocateur. He established a connection with the Ananda Marga sect and was responsible for the arrest in Bangkok in 1978 of Ananda Marga members who were sold explosives by Wechsler. The three Ananda Marga — two Australians and one American — were charged with conspiring to blow up the Indian Embassy.
Wechsler, described as a freelancer by the Bangkok Post, has done several articles but has a history of working for various undercover, nonjournalistic efforts. See this fascinating history of Wechsler by Victoria University professor Phillip Deery, based on records released by Australia's security services and other interviews.
Is the Madhi/Wechsler story for real? An exaggeration? Time will tell. (Madhi describes his alleged position with Khamenei: "I have been working with him for almost 19 years. I saw him frequently, sometimes 10 times or more in one day. We were very close. I was a protector of the leadership apparatus. I was head of a committee for strengthening the Islamic state and preventing anything from weakening it. I helped him too much.")
(Interestingly, Madhi also says he doesn't support sanctions on Iran but does support more help to opposition groups. He does say he was in a hospital in Germany last winter.) Queries to the Bangkok Post about how it fact-checked the story were not immediately returned.
A dose of skepticism may be in order. It's worth remembering that Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi conned an awful lot of the Western press and public to believe some phony Iraqi National Congress "defector" Adnan Ihsan al-Haideri, whom he made available "exclusively" to gullible journalists in Bangkok before the Iraq invasion, with bogus tales designed to appeal to the Western policy narrative. And it's worth remembering such moments are fraught with the risk of exploitation by opportunists of various stripes who have an agenda they would seek to impose, including on those inside of Iran actually risking their lives, without outside support, interference or taint.
@Rozen : what is exactly wrong with this statement ? - " We do not have a problem with Israel. The problem of Israel could be solved by Palestinians and Israel in cooperation and with help from states in the region and the world community. .... As for Israel, it is the Iranian government which doesn't recognise its right to exist ... We should recognise it ," -- and why would YOU be susspesious that this indeed is what the oposition desires - and what does Prince Reza pahlavi has to do with this ? By the way -- do you know the price of bread today ?
Thank-you for looking into that article. It "felt" a bit odd, to me, when I read it this morning. Aloha!
it is very intelligent to be cautious about the news we read or watch, and I agree with you on that. however, as I cautiously read this article I could not help but to ask you 1) how Reza Pahlavi's Bangkok voyage is related to this man? do you have any evidence of connection between the two? if so, what is Reza Pahlavi's position in Iran's political spectrum? aren't there more important Iranian opposition figures out there that would eventually want to meet this guy? 2) Ahmad Chalabi was a well-know political activist since long before the invasion of Iraq - how can u compare this guy with chalabi? and if u are referring to propaganda, I don't think anyone reads thai newspapers! we better wait till he appears on Fox or CNN to judge the issue.
wq
The article felt odd to me also, when it said he had been in prison for 73 years!
Good report. At least someone at Politico is able to see beyond the fairy dust.
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