Iran's D.C. interests office keeps going; It has a staff of 45, U.S. officials say

Bill Gertz
The Washington Times
04/25/97

While the Clinton administration pushes for tougher policies from European allies against Iran, it has made no move against Iran's diplomatic office here staffed by more than 45 people, including suspected intelligence agents, according to U.S. officials.

The Iranian interests section operates out of two floors of an office building on Wisconsin Avenue. All of the Iranian government representatives are required by the State Department to be permanent resident aliens or U.S. citizens.

By contrast, the United States has no staff in Tehran, where U.S. interests are represented by diplomats of the Swiss Embassy. "They are not technically Iranian diplomats," said one official who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the interests section personnel. "But what are they doing here?"

The official said "a group" of employees at the Iranian interests section are agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the intelligence and covert action unit that has been linked by the U.S. government to support for international terrorism.

The national security threats posed by the Iranian presence were highlighted by U.S. officials in the wake of the trial in Germany two weeks ago that uncovered evidence linking senior Iranian leaders to international terrorism. The United States and Iran do not have formal diplomatic ties.

Through the Pakistanis, the Iranian interests section has diplomatic pouch privileges, which allow Iranian representatives to bring in cash or other items without detection by law enforcement or intelligence agencies.

"The size of the interests section is kept under review but it is not tied to the Mykanos process," a State Department official said, referring to the German court case. "There is an ongoing interagency review of what the size should be."

Officials of the Iranian delegation here could not be reached for comment.

"The United States has known for many years that the Islamic Republic of Iran is using its interests section and many Islamic centers to recruit operatives and conduct intelligence gathering," said Kenneth Timmerman, director of the Middle East Data Project. "They've known for years and have done nothing about it."

James E. Nolan, former ambassador and FBI agent, said the Iranian office was set up to assist Iranian expatriates with visas.

"Forty-five people seems like an extraordinarily large interests section," said Mr. Nolan, former director of the State Department office of foreign missions, which monitors such posts.

"The only thing they were supposed to be doing when I was around was visa stuff - assisting in the issuance of hardship visas."

Iranian intelligence activities from the interests section were limited to "watching their own people," he said. "Whether that is still their main occupation, or whether they are into scientific collection, I don't know."

U.S. intelligence officials said Iranian intelligence agents, including officials operating out of the interests section and the United Nations mission in New York, spy on Iranians in America. Iran's agents also are engaged in collecting advanced U.S. technology for weapons and other uses.

The FBI, as part of its counterespionage and counterterrorism mission, keeps the Iranian mission under close electronic and physical surveillance. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.

Warren Nelson, editor of the English-language Iran Times newspaper, said the interests section handles passport renewals for many of the tens of thousands of Iranian residents in the Washington area, and Iranians often are lined up outside the office.

As for covert Iranian activities, "There's no question they are doing other things, but I'm not sure that mission is the center of activity," he said.

Mr. Nelson said he has documented more than 100 U.S. cases of Iranians or intermediaries acting on behalf of Tehran who have been caught trying to smuggle military hardware illegally.

The U.S. government appears to have put the interests section in a building and location that are easy to monitor, he said.

According to the 1990 census, there are about 222,000 Iranians in the United States. Mr. Nelson estimates the number is now closer to 500,000.

Iran's intelligence service is believed to use a network of Iranian nationals in the United States operating as business representatives or academics.

Peter Tarnoff, until recently undersecretary of state for political affairs, was in Europe this week trying to rally European government support for tougher policies toward Iran.

State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns, told reporters Monday, "We believe that Iran should be contained, economically and every other way, because Iran's a threat.

Photo, The Iranian interests section, with a staff of 45, operates out of two floors of this office building in the 2200 block of Wisconsin Avenue., By Jonathan Weiner/The Washington Times