WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) The United States charged two Iranians, one of them also a dual American citizen, for acting as illegal agents on behalf of the government in Tehran in conducting surveillance of Israeli facilities and spying on members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) terrorist group, the Justice Department said in a press release.
"An indictment was returned today charging Ahmadreza Mohammadi-Doostdar, 38, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, and Majid Ghorbani, 59, an Iranian citizen and resident of California, with allegedly acting on behalf of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran by conducting covert surveillance of Israeli and Jewish facilities in the United States, and collecting identifying information about American citizens and US nationals who are members of the group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK)," the release said on Monday.
The MEK is a designated terrorist organization in Iran and was a US-designated terrorist entity until then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delisted the group in 2012. The Justice Department in the release describes MEK as a group that "advocates the overthrow of the current Iranian government."
In September 20, 2017, Ghorbani is alleged to have attended a MEK rally in New York City during which he photographed individuals participating in the protest against the current Iranian regime, the release added.
Around December 2017, Doostdar contacted Ghorbani in the Los Angeles area and paid him approximately $2,000 in cash and Ghorbani delivered to him 28 photographs taken at the September 2017 MEK rally, many of which contained hand-written notes identifying the individuals, the release said.
