Classified US intelligence report suggests Iran regime unlikely to fall or change

March 9, 2026 by 1 Comment

Iran KhameneiA CLASSIFIED REPORT ISSUED two weeks ago by the United States National Intelligence Council (NIC) found that even a full-scale interstate war against Iran would be unlikely to dislodge or drastically alter the current regime. A summary of the report was revealed by The Washington Post, which cited three anonymous sources the paper said were intimately familiar with the report’s contents.

Composed of senior and highly respected intelligence analysts from across the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), the NIC is tasked with producing classified strategic assessments on critical issues of concern to American decision-makers. Technically NIC reports represent the collective voice of all 18 intelligence agencies that make up the U.S. IC, and come as close as possible to the IC’s consensus view on pressing national security concerns.

According to The Washington Post, the NIC report outlines several scenarios for leadership succession in Iran, resulting from either a surgical “decapitation” campaign against specific elements of regime, or from a large-scale military assault against the entirety of the Iranian security state. It concludes that in both cases the Iranian regime is too entrenched and powerful to fall. Moreover, even in the event of “decapitation”, the regime has substantial human resources to keep replenishing its fallen military and civilian leaders, including the Supreme Leader.

Lastly, the NIC report concludes that the Iranian opposition within Iran and around the world is too disjointed, fragmented and disorganized to pose a credible alternative to the Iranian security state. While discussing a number of different potential scenarios for the takeover of power by the Iranian opposition, the NIC report concludes that such an eventuality remains “unlikely”, The Post reports.

The Post’s report appears to confirm earlier accounts by The New York Times and the Reuters news agency, which suggested that the consensus view among the U.S. IC is that, if killed, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei would almost certainly be replaced by another hardliner, who would be ideologically opposed to both Israel and the West.

Notably, The Washington Post notes that the NIC report does not consider the possibility that the U.S. and Israel might decide to engage in a protracted ground war against Iran. Additionally, the report does not entertain the possibility that ethnic separatist forces within Iran—such as the Kurds, the Azeris or the Balochis—might revolt against Tehran, thus sparking a nationwide armed conflict.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 09 March 2026 | Permalink

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CIA working with Kurdish separatists to foment armed rebellion in northwestern Iran

March 5, 2026 by 1 Comment

Iran KurdistanTHE UNITED STATES CENTRAL Intelligence Agency (CIA) is arming and training ethnic separatists in northwestern Iran with the goal of fomenting an armed rebellion against Tehran in the coming weeks, according to reports. Several news outlets, including CNN, report that Iranian Kurdish opposition forces are preparing to launch a ground operation in northwestern Iran “in the coming days”.

The nearly 10 million Kurds in Iran are one of the largest ethnic minorities in the country, concentrated in the mountainous western provinces bordering Iraq and Turkey. They are predominantly Sunni Muslims in a country governed by a Shia clerical state, creating both religious and ethnic tension. The central government has generally responded to calls for autonomy by various Kurdish factions with security crackdowns and suppression of dissent. Kurdish regions have been subject to heavy surveillance and military deployment, particularly during periods of regional instability.

British news outlet ITV reports that American and Israeli air strikes have consistently targeted Iranian military installations in western Iran in recent days, in an effort to degrade Tehran’s security assets in the region and provide Kurdish rebel forces with the ability to launch a successful armed campaign. According to ITV, Kurdish rebels have asked Israeli and American forces to provide air cover for an eventual ground campaign—though whether this request has been approved remains unknown.

According to Axios, US President Donald Trump spoke directly with Iraqi Kurdish leaders last weekend, seeking access to Iran’s Kurdish provinces through the Kurdish-controlled autonomous region of northern Iraq. Such access would allow the CIA and US Special Operations Forces to create a supply route for the provision of weapons and other war materiel to Iranian Kurdish rebels. The US president also spoke with at least one Iranian Kurdish leader on Tuesday, according to reports.

CNN said it reached out to the CIA about this story but the agency refused to comment on it.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 05 March 2026 | Permalink

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Israelis with high-level clearances betted on military operations on Polymarket

February 23, 2026 by 2 Comments

PolymarketA CIVILIAN AND A reservist with high-level classified access used Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confidential information to place bets on Polymarket regarding future Israeli military operations. Polymarket is among the most prominent platforms in the rapidly emerging cryptocurrency-based prediction market sector.

Polymarket users are invited to bet “yes” or “no” on whether specific events will occur. These events may relate to political, sporting, cultural, security, environmental, or other fields. Prediction market platforms such as Polymarket match buyers and sellers for each event and hold the funds until the event occurs.

An Israeli court permitted publication that the two individuals were identified during a joint operation conducted by the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the police. According to the indictment, the civilian and the reservist are charged with serious security offenses, alleging that they placed bets on the Polymarket website based on classified military information. The indictment further states that, in the course of their IDF duties, they were exposed to the inside information on which they relied when making bets. The reservist had access to classified intelligence concerning future IDF operations, and the civilian opened an account on Polymarket and placed the bets.

At the conclusion of the investigation, after an evidentiary foundation had been established against the civilian and the reservist, the prosecutor’s office indicted them on charges of serious security offenses, bribery offenses, and obstruction of justice. According to a formal statement: “It should be noted that in June 2025, the two successfully bet on the occurrence of four security events in Israel related to Operation ‘Am Kalavi’ (the Israeli attack on Iran in June 2025). They wagered tens of thousands of dollars and were correct, with remarkable accuracy, in predicting: Israel will attack Iran on Friday; Israel will attack Iran by the end of June 2025; Israel will announce the end of the operation in Iran by July; Israel will attack Iran before July.” According to one source, they earned $150,000.

It was further stated that: “the execution of such bets, relying on secret and classified information, poses a real security risk to the activities of the IDF and to state security. The State of Israel views the acts attributed to the defendants with great severity and will act resolutely to thwart and bring to justice any person involved in the illegal use of classified information.” According to the findings of the investigation, no operational harm resulted from the Israeli attack on Iran in June 2025. The statement added: “The IDF will not tolerate this type of conduct. Following the incident, steps were taken, and procedures will be tightened across all IDF units to prevent similar incidents from recurring.”

The remaining details of the affair remain prohibited from publication for security reasons.

► Author: Avner Barnea* | Date: 23 February 2026 | Permalink

* Dr. Avner Barnea is a research fellow at the National Security Studies Center of the University of Haifa in Israel. He served as a senior officer in the Israel Security Agency (ISA). He is the author of We Never Expected That: A Comparative Study of Failures in National and Business Intelligence (Lexington Books, 2021).

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France arrests alleged Chinese spies living in small village—four arrests so far

February 11, 2026 by 7 Comments

France GirondeFOUR MEN HAVE BEEN arrested in France on suspicion of spying for China using a system of parabolic antennas and computers installed at a rented property in the French countryside. The men were arrested last Saturday and Sunday by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), which focuses on counterterrorism and counterespionage.

Two of the arrests took place on-site at a property in Camblanes-et-Meynac, a picturesque village located around 10 miles from Bordeaux in south-western France’s Gironde region. The property had reportedly been rented through the rental broker application Airbnb by two Chinese nationals who arrived in France in January. They are believed to have entered the country using work visas as engineers for a wireless telecommunications firm.

After settling in Camblanes-et-Meynac, the men erected a large parabolic antenna system in the garden of the rented property. The move reportedly alarmed locals, who noticed that their own Internet service experienced disruptions following the erection of the parabolic antenna system by the Chinese nationals. A local family proceeded to alert local authorities about the antenna.

According to reports the DGSI arrested two Chinese nationals aged 27 and 29, while also seizing a substantial quantity of computer and satellite equipment that was found on the property. Two other men reportedly “of Chinese origin” but based in France, were also arrested over the weekend. They were charged with providing assistance to the two residents of the Airbnb property by illegally importing the satellite equipment installed on the property. Their identities have not been released by the authorities.

The French prosecutor’s office stated that the suspects were engaged in efforts to “capture satellite data from the Starlink [mobile broadband] network”. They were also allegedly trying to intercept communications data from “vital entities” in the military realm and “retransmit them to their country of origin”, namely China, according to the statement. They are now in custody facing charges of “delivering information to a foreign power […] likely to damage the interests” of France—a standard phraseology used in the French legal code to describe foreign espionage.

France’s Gironde region has long been an epicenter of espionage by international actors due to its proximity to a growing number of facilities and restricted sites related to critical telecommunication, aerospace, and defense industries. Several small towns and villages in the area are in proximity to the industrial core of France’s defense, space and aeronautics operations.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 11 February 2026 | Permalink

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Poland to probe alleged ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Russian intelligence

February 6, 2026 by 4 Comments

Donald Tusk

THE GOVERNMENT OF POLAND has announced plans to launch an investigation into the possibility that an international sex trafficking ring set up by the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was a “honey trap” set up by Russian intelligence to entrap “the elites of the Western world,” according to Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Tusk announced the commencement of what he referred to as a “special investigation” at a press conference on Wednesday, following a senior-level government meeting. He told reporters that the investigation would be led by members of the Office of the Prime Minister in association with the Ministry of Justice and the Polish intelligence services.

In 2008 a Florida court convicted Epstein—a jet-setting financier with links to hundreds of prominent individuals in finance, politics, industry, and academia—for sex offences. The disgraced financier was found dead in his jail cell in 2019. Prosecutors in the United States say they have identified over 100 victims of Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring, but some estimates claim that as many as 1,000 other victims have yet to come forward.

At last week’s press conference, a stern-looking Tusk pointed to Epstein’s large fortune, describing it as “unexplained” and adding that it raised important questions about the late financier’s links with state actors. He reminded his audience that “a growing number of commentators and experts assume that it is highly probable that this pedophilia scandal was a premeditated operation by the Russian KGB”—a term still frequently used in Eastern European countries to refer to the post-Soviet intelligence community.

The operation may have been a “so-called ‘honey trap’, a sweet bait, a trap set for the elites of the Western world, primarily the United States,” Tusk said. The Polish prime minister then added: “I don’t need to tell you how serious the increasingly likely possibility that Russian intelligence services co-organized this operation is.” Among other things, it could “mean that they also possess compromising materials against many leaders still active today.” He added that investigators would systematically review and assess “every document currently available in the public domain.”

In a social media post later that day, Russian businessman Kirill Dimitriev, who last year was appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russia’s special presidential envoy on foreign investment and economic cooperation, dismissed the Polish government’s move. According to Dimitriev, all allegations about connections between Epstein and Russian intelligence are “lies” spread by “leftist elites.”

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 06 February | Permalink

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Intelligence tensions rock NATO as Danish government issues espionage advisory

January 26, 2026 by 1 Comment

Mark Rutte NATO TrumpINTELLIGENCE PARTNERS IN THE North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are “not talking openly” anymore, while authorities in Denmark have advised government officials to disable Bluetooth functions on their devices due to spying concerns. According to reports in British news outlets, intelligence-sharing functions inside NATO are at a breaking point following a series of actions by the United States that one source described as “alliance-breaking moves” that could “thoroughly alter the global order for decades to come”.

One British outlet cited an unnamed “senior NATO insider” who said that the current dispute between the US and Europe over Greenland is “creating tensions and distrust between European and US colleagues in NATO”. The source added that European and Canadian NATO staff are “not talking openly” with their US counterparts amid “growing concerns that information will make its way back to [US President Donald] Trump”.

At the same time, reports from the US suggest that the White House has ordered the Pentagon to “scale back” its participation from NATO’s force structure and a number of transnational advisory groups. European and Canadian military officials are reportedly interpreting these moves as “the latest sign of the Trump administration’s drive to scale back the US military presence in Europe”.

Meanwhile, the Danish government has issued multiple advisories to its military and civilian officials to disable all Bluetooth functions across both government-supplied and personal electronic devices, reportedly over concerns of intensified foreign surveillance targeting Denmark. The Danish Defense Intelligence Service (DDIS) issued an advisory to military personnel across Denmark and Greenland to deactivate all Bluetooth functions.

The Information Technology Department of the Danish National Police issued a similar advisory to its personnel, instructing them to keep all Bluetooth functions deactivated until further notice. The advisory warned that wireless accessories, including Bluetooth-reliant headsets from popular brands like Apple could function as potential entry points for eavesdropping and other forms of data interception by foreign powers.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 26 January 2026 | Permalink

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Former deep-cover spy leads Kremlin’s efforts to woo Indian high-tech sector

December 8, 2025 by 2 Comments

Andrei Bezrukov A FORMER DEEP COVER Russian intelligence officer, whose cover was blown in 2010 when he was arrested in the United States, is spearheading efforts by the Kremlin to secure investments by India’s technology sector. The spy, Andrei Bezrukov, was recruited by the Soviet Committee for State Security (KGB) in the late 1970s or early 1980s—most likely alongside his wife, Elena Vavilova. For several years, the married couple lived in several countries, including Canada and France, before arriving in the United States in 1999 using fraudulently obtained Canadian passports.

Posing as Donald Heathfield and Tracey Foley, Bezrukov and Vavilova were among 10 Russian non-official-cover intelligence officers arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in June 2010. They were eventually swapped with Moscow for several Western spies held in Russian prisons. After returning to Russia, Bezrukov and Vavilova received the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” 4th Class, which is Russia’s second-highest state decoration. They also entered state-sponsored employment, with Bezrukov advising the Rosneft Oil Company—Russia’s second-largest corporation—and teaching at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

In June 2025, Bezrukov apparently represented the Russian state at the 28th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)—often referred to as “Putin’s Davos”. According to the Washington Post, Bezrukov’s apparent role at SPIEF was to network with Forum representatives from India’s advanced technology sector, allegedly on direct orders by the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The event, which went under the tagline “Shared Values as a Foundation for Growth in a Multipolar World”, gathered nearly 20,000 delegates from 140 countries. The Kremlin touted it as evidence of the West’s failure to isolate Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. It also served as part of a set of broader efforts by the Kremlin to prevent the Russian economy from sliding into a recession by seeking to develop alternative energy markets and strengthening economic and political ties to the Global South.

India is by far the largest of a group of countries seen as “friendly” by Russia, which could potentially help revitalize the Russian economy, largely through the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The 14-year-old agreement aims to interconnect a transnational transportation network connecting Russia and India with import-export routes in Central Asia the Middle East, and Europe. Experts claim that the INSTC is the logistical backbone of Russia’s efforts to salvage its economy from the growing pressures of the war in Ukraine.

The Post reported that Bezrukov denied that he is still an employee of Russian intelligence agencies when approached and asked about his past by Western journalists.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 08 December 2025 | Permalink

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Colombian spy chief claims intelligence-sharing with CIA continues despite dispute

December 1, 2025 by 3 Comments

Gustavo PetroIN A RARE MEDIA interview, the chief of Colombia’s National Intelligence Directorate (DNI) has said that his agency’s collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other American spy organizations continues unabated. This statement appears to contradict a prior statement by the president of Colombia, who said his country had stopped all intelligence-sharing with the United States in protest against the lethal targeting of civilian vessels in the Caribbean.

The political dispute between the two countries made headlines on November 11, when Colombian President Gustavo Petro (pictured) ordered his government’s intelligence agencies to “suspend intelligence sharing with US intelligence agencies”. The leftist leader made the announcement in response to the targeting of Colombian boats that Washington accuses of involvement in narcotics smuggling in the Caribbean. Two weeks earlier, the White House had personally accused Petro of participating in illicit drug trade activities and imposed sanctions on him and his immediate family.

Two days after the dramatic breakdown in intelligence cooperation between Colombia and the United States, Colombian officials claimed that Bogota would continue to share intelligence with international spy agencies, including those of the United States. Petro’s Minister of the Interior, Armando Benedetti, said that reports about the alleged breakdown in intelligence cooperation between the two countries were due to “a misunderstanding”. He added that Colombia would “continue working […] against drug trafficking and crime with the United States”.

Now the director of the DNI, Jorge Lemus, has told Agence France Presse that his agency’s relationship with the CIA had not been disrupted, despite the high-level political dispute between Colombia and the United States. The CIA “are collaborating a lot, and so are we”, said Lemus. The spy chief added that Colombian counternarcotics forces had destroyed “over 10,000” illicit cocaine labs in 2025 and were continuing operations against drug cartels “together with them [the CIA], hand-in-hand with them. We continue exactly as before […] not only with the CIA, but with all agencies”.

Lemus’ comments are reportedly the first high-level confirmation of Benedetti’s November 13 statement that intelligence cooperation between Colombia and the United States continued unabated despite the political falling-out between the two countries’ leaders.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 01 December 2025 | Permalink

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France arrests members of humanitarian charity accused of being a Russian front

November 26, 2025 by 5 Comments

SOS DonbassFRENCH AUTHORITIES HAVE ARRESTED three individuals and placed a fourth person under supervision after scrutinizing the operations of a humanitarian organization suspected of being a front for Russian intelligence. The arrests were announced on Tuesday by the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), France’s domestic security agency.

The organization in question was registered at the Pyrénées-Atlantiques prefecture of southwestern France in 2022 under the name “Sud Ouest Solidarité Donbass” (“Solidarity for South-West Donbass). This was abbreviated in the organization’s marketing material as “SOS Donbass”. Its expressed mission is to raise funds in support of civilians in Ukraine’s war-torn region of Donbass, most of which is currently under Russian military control.

The DGSI said it began monitoring the activities of SOS Donbass in early 2025. It claims that members of the organization used the cover of humanitarian work in order to spread Russian propaganda in France on the orders of Moscow. It also claims that they attempted to collect “economic information” from executives of French firms. At least one member of the group participated in a concerted campaign of putting up posters in downtown Paris, bearing the slogan “Russia is not my enemy” (pictured), according to the DGSI.

The director of SOS Donbass, identified in French media reports as “Anna N.”, 40, who was born in Russia but lives in France, was arrested by DGSI on November 17. Another Russian-born member of SOS Donbass, “Vyacheslav B.”, also 40, was arrested on the same day. A third individual, “Vensan B.”, 63, who is French-born and lives in Paris’ northern Seine-Saint-Denis suburb, was arrested the following day. A fourth individual, identified as “Bernard F.”, 58, has been placed under strict supervision and is required to report to the police weekly.

According to France’s Le Parisien newspaper, Anna N. and Vyacheslav B. have been formally charged with “colluding with a foreign power”, “conducting activities to gather information on the interests of the nation for a foreign power” and “actions likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation”, which carry sentences of up to 10 years.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 26 November 2025 | Permalink

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British spy and his Chinese handler used private jet to escape to China, report claims

November 10, 2025 by 1 Comment

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport SerbiaA BRITISH MAN WANTED by American authorities for spying for China, who disappeared along with his Chinese handler while under house arrest, may have managed to escape to China using a private jet, a report claims. John Miller, 63, from Tunbridge Wells in the United Kingdom, was arrested alongside his alleged Chinese handler, Cui Guanghai, in April of this year.

At the time of their arrest, the two men were staying at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Serbian capital Belgrade. Serbian authorities reportedly arrested the men just hours before they were about to board a flight to China. American authorities accuse Mille, who lives permanently in the United States, of attempting to smuggle “sensitive […] military technology” to China, such as drones, air defense systems, and ground-to-air missiles.

The two suspects were jailed while awaiting extradition to the United States, where each faced up to 40 years in prison for violating the United States Arms Export Control Act. A month later, the two suspects were moved out of jail and placed into house arrest in two separate apartments in Belgrade. Both were required to wear electronic ankle bracelets at all time.

However, on August 4, the two men damaged and forcibly removed their surveillance devices. Records show that the devices stopped transmitting their location coordinates between 12:43 and 12:54 a.m. local time. Alarms were automatically triggered, alerting officials at Serbia’s Criminal Sanctions Enforcement Directorate, whose surveillance systems were monitoring the two men.

In less than an hour, however, the two men had arrived at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport. According to a new report, published last week by the Serbia-based Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), the suspects boarded a private Gulfstream G550 jet that was waiting for them at the airport. The report claims that the jet is owned by a Beijing-headquartered firm called Deer Jet. Shortly afterwards, the jet took off for a nine-hour direct flight to the Chinese capital.

Miller and Cui have not been seen since. BIRN said officials from the Serbian government did not respond to calls for comment. British newspaper The Mail on Sunday said it contacted Deer Jet but received no responses. The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States refused to comment as well.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 10 November 2025 | Permalink

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Dutch spy services have restricted intelligence-sharing with the United States: report

October 20, 2025 by 15 Comments

Mark Rutte NATO TrumpINTELLIGENCE SERVICES IN THE Netherlands have restricted intelligence-sharing with their United States counterparts due to political developments in Washington, according to two leading Dutch intelligence officials. This development—which may typify Europe’s current approach to transatlantic intelligence-sharing—was confirmed last week by the heads of the Netherlands’ two largest intelligence agencies in a joint interview with De Volkskrant newspaper.

The joint interview was given to De Volkskrant by Erik Akerboom, director of the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), and Peter Reesink , director of the General Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD)—AIVD’s civilian military counterpart.

Both men stressed that inter-agency relations between Dutch and American intelligence organizations remain “excellent”. However, they added that the Netherlands has grown more selective about what it chooses to share with American intelligence agencies—particularly the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. “That we sometimes don’t share things anymore, that’s true,” Reesink said, referring to sharing information with American intelligence agencies. Akerboom added: “sometimes you have to think case by case.” He went on to say: “We can’t say what we will or won’t share. But we can say that we are more critical.”

According to the two senior officials, Dutch spies have been intensifying intelligence cooperation and sharing with their European counterparts. This is particularly applicable to a collection of central and northern European intelligence services from countries like Scandinavia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Poland, according to De Volkskrant.

► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 20 October 2025 | Permalink

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Mossad had ‘some 100 agents’ on the ground in Iran on June 13, Israeli officials claim

September 22, 2025 by 4 Comments

Mossad inside IranTHE MOSSAD, ISRAEL’S PRIMARY covert action agency, had “some 100 agents” on the ground in Iran at the start of the Twelve-Day War, according to senior Israeli government officials who participated in a television documentary. The documentary was aired last week on Israel’s Channel 13 television channel. It features interviews with senior Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Israel Katz, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar, and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi.

According to the documentary, several new intelligence units focusing on Iran were established across the Israeli military establishment in the summer of 2023, in anticipation of a war with the Islamic Republic. These units acted in coordination with the Mossad in the lead-up to June 13, when Israel launched the opening salvos of the Twelve-Day War. The documentary claims that around 100 Mossad agents were active on the ground in the early hours of June 13. It appears that the term “agents”, as used in the documentary, refers primarily to Iranian Mossad assets, rather than Mossad officers.

Israeli officials describe the Mossad operation as “unprecedented” in scale, as never before had so many operatives been simultaneously activated for a single mission. It was also unprecedented in complexity, because it involved the deployment missile systems, the documentary claims. These systems had been previously smuggled into Iran and were used to destroy Iran’s anti-aircraft installations and ballistic missile launchers. Iranian war planners had not considered the possibility of missile attacks against their military installations originating from within Iran’s borders.

In addition to the Mossad-led component of the operation, members of the Israel Defense Forces were also active outside Israel’s borders that day. According to Brigadier General Gilad Keinan, commander of Israeli Air Forces’ Air Operations Group, Israeli troops were “on the ground somewhere in the Middle East” on the evening of June 13. He did not provide further details.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 22 September 2025 | Permalink

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Austrian prosecutors charge ex-intelligence officer accused of spying for Russia

September 2, 2025 by 3 Comments

Landesgericht für Strafsachen Wien Vienna Regional Court for Criminal MattersPROSECUTORS IN VIENNA HAVE charged a former intelligence officer with spying for Russia in a high-profile case that has had broad political ramifications in Austria and abroad. The criminal case centers on Egisto Ott, a former employee of Austria’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism (BVT). The BVT operated as Austria’s primary domestic intelligence agency from 2002 until its dissolution in 2021.

Ott was first arrested in March 2021, but was soon released after Vienna’s state court ruled that the accused no longer had access to classified information, and was thus not a persistent threat to the state. Ott was arrested again in March 2024 on suspicion of having maintained contact with Russian intelligence officers even following his 2021 arrest and release, and of trying to sell classified information after his release. As intelNews reported a year ago, Ott was released again from pre-trial detention in June 2024, in a decision that raised eyebrows.

Now Ott is facing charges of colluding with an unidentified police officer to “support an intelligence agency” of a foreign country “to the detriment of Austria”, according to the public prosecutor. Ott is also accused of having engaged in bribery, misuse of his office, and of having broken Austria’s Official Secrets Act. Among several instances of engaging in espionage, Ott is accused of having given Russian intelligence an encrypted SINA-workstation laptop of the type used by government employees to access classified information remotely.

Ott and his lawyers have denied he was involved in espionage and have vowed to confront all charges against him in court.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 02 September 2025 | Permalink

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Ex-head of Israeli Military Intelligence discusses October 7 attack in leaked recordings

August 25, 2025 by 6 Comments

Aharon HalivaIN A SERIES OF leaked recordings, the former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate, Major General Aharon Haliva, has expressed strong views about Israel’s war in Gaza. General Haliva headed Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate (known as Aman) on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants took Israel by surprise in a combined arms attack, killing over 1,200 and kidnapping 250. Since resigning a year ago, Haliva has not made any public statements.

It is unclear who Haliva was speaking to when he was recorded, or by whom he was recorded. Nor is it clear when or where the recordings occurred. They were leaked last week by Israeli television station Channel 12. There follows a summary of Haliva’s comments in the leaked recordings.

Personal Responsibility. Haliva admits that the disaster occurred during his watch; therefore, he bears ultimate responsibility. At the same time, he emphasizes that responsibility is systemic and broad—not only his, but also that of the entire Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israel Security Agency (ISA), and the country’s senior political leadership. He states: “Anyone who voluntarily assumes a leadership position knows that his decisions will bring both great successes and great failures”.

Systemic and Cultural Failures. Haliva argues that the failure originates from a long-standing organizational culture within the Aman, rooted in arrogance, overconfidence, and the belief that “the enemy is deterred”, as well as the idea that Israel’s intelligence is all-powerful. This mindset led to operational stand-downs during Sabbaths, holidays, and in the month of August, reflecting overconfidence. He warns: “This was not a one-time accident, but something that requires dismantling and rebuilding the system”.

Responsibility of Other Bodies. Haliva points to the ISA as the agency that should have provided human intelligence alerts on the evening of October 6 and the early hours of October 7, 2023, but did not. He criticizes the government and the cabinet for not holding serious, in-depth discussions on Gaza, while for years allowing Hamas to grow stronger with the help of Qatari money and by dividing Gaza from the West Bank.

The Political Leadership and Benjamin Netanyahu. Haliva describes Netanyahu as “a very attentive man, who reads, but is very cowardly—and in the test of results, he failed”. He emphasizes that Israel’s political leadership made decisions that strengthened Hamas and hindered proper preparedness. His conclusion: “In such a biblical-scale disaster, responsibility lies with everyone—they should all step down”. Read more of this post

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Soldier with far-right links becomes first convicted spy in New Zealand history

August 19, 2025 by 1 Comment

New Zealand ChristchurchA DISAFFECTED SOLDIER, WHO tried to commit espionage against New Zealand for a foreign government, has become the first convicted spy in the Pacific Island nation’s history. The only other time New Zealand prosecuted an individual for espionage was in 1974, when the government accused Bill Sutch, a prominent, English-born civil servant, of spying for the Soviet Union. Sutch was acquitted in 1975 and died soon afterwards.

According to reports, a member of the New Zealand Defence Force, who has not been named, drew the attention of the authorities in the aftermath of the 2019 Christchurch shooting. The attack was carried out by Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, who stormed a mosque with an automatic weapon, killing 51 and injuring nearly 100 people. The terrorist attack sparked a widespread investigation into far-right militancy in the Australian and New Zealand armed forces, which continues to this day.

The soldier was found to have contacts with a number of local far-right groups, including the Dominion Movement and Action Zealandia. Government prosecutors said that, while observing the soldier’s activities, government agents found out that he had “made contact with a third party, indicating that he was a soldier” and signaling his desire to defect to a foreign country. They eventually approached the soldier using an undercover officer who pretended to be a representative of the country whose officials the soldier had previously contacted. The soldier told the undercover officer that he was prepared to “get a covert device into army headquarters” and offered to provide “mapping and photographs” of classified government facilities.

During his trial, the soldier pled guilty, admitting that he had tied to spy for a foreign government, and adding that his ultimate goal was to “leave New Zealand and get to what I thought was safety”. Following the soldier’s conviction, the three-judge military panel said it would announce the sentence later this week. The country for which the convicted soldier offered to spy has not been named.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 18 August 2025 | Permalink

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