Ministry of Intelligence and Security - Iran
Agency name: Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) or Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniat-e Keshvar (VEVAK) in Persian.
Creation Date: 18 August 1983
Legal Act: The specific legal act establishing the MOIS is not publicly available.
Location of Headquarters: Tehran, Iran.
Person in Charge: (2023) Esmaeil Khatib (born 1961) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has been serving as the minister of intelligence since August 2021
Number of Employees: The exact number of employees in the MOIS is not publicly disclosed. However, it is estimated to have as many as 30,000 employees.
Annual Budget: The specific annual budget of the MOIS is not publicly available. The Iranian government does not typically disclose detailed budget information for intelligence agencies.
Website: vaja.ir
Mission Statement: The official mission statement of the MOIS is not publicly available. However, its primary mission is to gather intelligence, ensure domestic security, and counter threats to the Iranian government.
Stated Principles: The publicly stated principles or guiding principles of the MOIS are not readily available.
Collection type: The MOIS engages in various types of intelligence collection, including human intelligence (HUMINT), signals intelligence (SIGINT), and open-source intelligence (OSINT). The agency likely utilizes other forms of intelligence collection as well.
Organization type: The MOIS is a government intelligence agency.
Oversight Body: The MOIS is overseen by the Supreme Leader of Iran, who holds significant authority over its operations.
Area of Operations: The MOIS operates primarily within Iran, focusing on domestic intelligence, counterintelligence, and security. However, It also conducts foreign intelligence operations to gather information on foreign governments, organizations, and individuals relevant to Iran's national interests.
Brief History: The MOIS was established on August 18th 1983, succeeding the SAVAK, which was Iran's intelligence agency during the Pahlavi era. It was created to consolidate and centralize intelligence gathering and security functions under the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since its establishment, the MOIS has been involved in various domestic and international intelligence operations.
Powers: The MOIS has broad powers within Iran, including conducting surveillance, intelligence gathering, counterintelligence activities, counterterrorism operations, and engaging in covert actions. The agency is known for its significant influence and authority in matters of national security and intelligence.
Notable Operations:
1) "Chain" Assassinations:
In late 1998, three dissident writers, a political leader and his wife were killed in Iran in the span of two months. After great public outcry and journalistic investigation in Iran and publicity internationally, prosecutors announced in mid-1999 that one Saeed Emami had led "rogue elements" of the Iranian Intelligence ministry in the killings. Emami was announced as having committed suicide while he was in prison. A further trial later identified three intelligence ministry agents as also being involved in the assassination plot. They were sentenced to death and twelve others were given prison terms for murdering two of the victims.
2) Foreign executions:
On November 14th, 2019, Massoud Molavi Verdanjani, an on-line opposition activist, was shot and killed in Istanbul's Shishli neighborhood. A Turkish security official later claimed Verdanjani's suspected killer had confessed to acting under the orders of two Iranian intelligence officers at the Iranian consulate in Turkey.
3) Captured Mossad spies:
On April 20th, 2022, according to a statement issued by the semi-official Fars news agency, Iran's intelligence ministry stated it had captured three Mossad spies.