Iran Intelligence Ministry rejects reports on US-based group ringleader’s overseas arrest

Press TV

Monday, 03 August 2020 5:51 AM  [ Last Update: Monday, 03 August 2020 6:44 AM ]

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) talks with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a rally with fellow Democrats before voting on H.R. 1, or the People Act, on the East Steps of the US Capitol on March 08, 2019 in Washington, DC. (AFP photo)
This photo released by Fars news agency shows Jamshid Sharmahd after his capture by Iranian security forces.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, which recently announced the apprehension of the ringleader of a US-based anti-Iran terrorist group, has rejected reports alleging that the person in question was actually nabbed in Tajikistan.

The reports “are roundly rejected,” the Ministry said in a statement that was cited by Tasnim News Agency on Sunday.

Statements released by the Ministry’s Public Relations Office are the ultimate source of any official information detailing the operations that are carried out by the Ministry’s operatives, the statement asserted.

The Ministry announced arresting Jamshid Sharmahd, the ringleader of the Tondar (Thunder) outfit, otherwise known as the so-called “Kingdom Assembly of Iran,” on Saturday, notifying that he had directed “armed operations and acts of sabotage” inside Iran from the US in the past.

Upon arrest, Sharmahd admitted to providing explosives for a 2008 attack in southern Iran that killed 14 people. US-based group ringleader admits providing explosives for 2008 deadly bomb attack in Iran

Upon arrest, the ringleader of a US-based anti-Iran terrorist group admits providing explosives for a 2008 attack in southern Iran.

“I was called before the bomb was about to be set off,” he was seen confessing in footage provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network later in the day. 

The attack that targeted the Seyyed al-Shohada mosque in the city of Shiraz also wounded 215 others.

According to the Ministry, the group had planned to carry out several high-profile and potentially hugely-deadly attacks across the Islamic Republic, but had been frustrated in the attempts owing to intricate intelligence operations targeting the outfit. These included blowing up of Sivand Damn in Shiraz, detonating cyanide-laden bombs at Tehran International Book Fair, and carrying out explosions during mass gatherings at the Mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini.

Details of the arrest

Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi, meanwhile, congratulated the Ministry’s operatives on their success in arresting the terrorist ringleader, detailing the circumstances that surrounded the operation.

Sharmahd enjoyed “serious support” from the American and Israeli intelligence services, which “considered it to be far-fetched for the Iranian Intelligence Ministry to be able to penetrate their intelligence cover and put him under its command through an intricate operation,” the minister said.

The Americans still believe that pictures showing Sharmahd in Iran after his arrest have been snapped outside the Islamic Republic, he added, saying, “They will found out about everything [concerning the operation] in near future.”

Alavi differentiated between Sharmahd’s outfit and other so-called royalist groups, which mostly resort to rhetoric and statements to try to establish themselves.

Tondar “was the only movement that was very violent and was after establishing itself through terrorist operation,” the minister noted.

‘Iran neutralized 27 ops by Tondar’

Alavi noted that the Ministry had succeeded in frustrating 27 operations by Sharmahd and his group.

The minister again highly rated the arrest operation, recalling previous remarks by Sharmahd, in which he had considered himself to be comfortably nested within the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“He considered his place to be lying on the sixth floor of the FBI [‘s building],” and now sees himself in the grips of Iranian intelligence operatives, Alavi said.

Following the terrorist attack in Iran, the Islamic Republic notified the Interpol of Sharmahd’s identity and demanded his arrest. However, he would still travel freely between countries with his real identity.

Alavi said the inaction despite Tehran’s complaint “indicates the hollowness of the Americans and their European allies’ claim of fighting terrorism.”

The minister finally hailed that the arrest “has not been and will not be” the first such complicated operation to be aced by Iranian intelligence operatives, asserting that “they have carried out such arrests in the past, the due time for explaining which has not yet arrived.”


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طهران تعلن اعتقال زعيم “مجموعة ارهابية” مقرّها الولايات المتحدة

الكاتب: الميادين نت : وكالات 1 اب 21:00

جمشيد شارمهد
جمشيد شارمهد

وزارة الأمن الإيرانية تعلن اعتقال زعيم تنظيم “تندر” الإرهابية التي تتخذ من الولايات المتحدة الأميركية مقراً له، كان يعتزم خلال تنفيذ عدة عمليات تخريبية كبيرة من ضمنها تفجير سد سيوند في شيراز.

أعلنت وزارة الأمن الإيرانية اعتقال زعيم تنظيم “تندر” الارهابية الذي يتخذ من الولايات المتحدة الأميركية مقرّاً له.

وأفاد بيان صادر عن وزارة الأمن الإيرانية اليوم السبت، عن اعتقال “جمشيد شارمهد” زعيم هذه المجموعة المسماة “تندر” والذي كان يدير العمليات المسلحة والتخريبية في إيران من أميركا.   

وأضاف البيان بأن شارمهد هو الآن في قبضة قوات الأمن التي تمكنّت من اعتقاله في إطار عمليات معقدة.

وكان هذا الإرهابي قد قام قبل 12 عاماً بتخطيط وتوجيه عملية تفجير حسينية “سيد الشهداء (ع)” في شيراز والتي استشهد خلالها 14 شخصاً وأصيب 215 آخرون من المواطنين المشاركين في مراسم العزاء الحسيني.

وكانت هذه المجموعة الإرهابية تعتزم خلال الأعوام الأخيرة تنفيذ عدة عمليات تخريبية كبيرة من ضمنها تفجير سد سيوند في شيراز وتفجير قنابل سيانور في معرض طهران للكتاب وتفجير مرقد “الامام الخميني (رض)”. وقد تم إحباط جميع هذه العمليات في ظل يقظة كوادر وزارة الأمن الايرانية.

وسيتم الإعلان لاحقاً عن تفاصيل العمليات “المعقّدة والناجحة” لكوادر الأمن في إلقاء القبض على زعيم هذه الزمرة الارهابية.

من جهته، أشاد المتحدث باسم الخارجية الايرانية عباس موسوي، بجهود وزارة الأمن في اعتقال شارمهد، الذي وصفه “بزعيم زمرة إرهابية وتخريبية”.

وقال موسوي، إن “النظام الأميركي يتحمل مسؤولية دعم زمرة تندر الإرهابية وغيرها من الزمر والمجرمين، الذين يقودون العمليات الإرهابية ضد الشعب الإيراني، من داخل الولايات المتحدة”، بحسب تعبيره.

وبالتزامن، كشف وزير الأمن الإيراني محمود علوي أن “شارمهد مدعوم من الموساد والـسي آي أيه ولم يتصوروا أن استخباراتنا قادرة على خرقهما”.

وبالتزامن، كشف وزير الأمن الإيراني محمود علوي أن “شارمهد مدعوم من الموساد والــسي آي أيه ولم يتصوروا أن استخباراتنا قادرة على خرقهما”.

وتابع قائلاً “الاستخبارات الإيرانية اخترقت الموساد والــسي آي أيه واستدرجت شارمهد إلى إيران واعتقلته في عملية معقدة”.

وكان رئيس لجنة الأمن القومي والسياسة الخارجية بمجلس الشورى الإيراني مجتبى ذو النوري، أكد أن التحقيقات تشير إلى أن “مصدر الإنفجار في نطنز كان في الغالب من عناصر داخلية ولا يمكن الإفصاح عنها الآن”.

وقال إن التحقيقات تشير إلى أنه ليس هناك احتمالية لهجوم عبر الطائرات بدون طيّار والصواريخ والقنابل والقذائف.

وشهدت إيران انفجاراً في مبنى تابع لمحطة “نظنز” النووية، وأعلن المتحدث باسم المنظمة الإيرانية للطاقة النووية، بهروز كمالوندي، أن “الحريق الذي اندلع في المحطة أحدث أضراراً جسيمة”.

IRAN CAPTURES RINGLEADER OF U.S.-BASED ‘TERRORIST GROUP’

Source

01.08.2020 

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced on August 1 that it had captured the ringleader of the U.S.-based Tondar [Thunder] group, Jamshid Sharmahd.

In an official statement, the ministry said Sharmahd was captured in complicated operations by security forces, adding that his capture was a “heavy and serious blow” to Tondra.

Iran Captures Ringleader Of U.S.-Based ‘Terrorist Group’
Jamshid Sharmahd, source: farsnews.ir

Sharmahd, 65, introduces himself on the official website of Tondar as an Iranian-American broadcaster and opposition activist based in Los Angeles.

Tondar, or the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, is an group seeking to overthrow the Islamic regime in Iran and restore the monarchy. Iran says the group is armed and responsible for terrorist activities in the country.

The group allegedly claimed responsibility for the 2008 Shiraz explosion at the Hosseynieh Seyed al-Shohada. At least 14 people, including children, were killed and 215 others were injured in the bombing.

Iran claims that its security forces foiled several terrorist plot by Tondar over the last few years. The group supposedly plotted to blow up the Sivand dam in Shiraz, detonate cyanide bombs at the Tehran book exhibition and bomb the general ceremonies at late Imam Khomeini’s shrine.

While the group is based in the U.S, it remains unclear if it is receiving any support from Washington. Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence said that it will provide more details on the capture of Sharmahd soon.

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