RIFLE RANGE BOY: spy

Showing posts with label spy. Show all posts

Sunday, 6 July 2025

Spy vs Spy?

Tehran (Hebrew, Persian, English; 2020)

Miniseries (S1-3, 24 Episodes)

https://www.apple.com/uk/tv-pr/originals/tehran/

It used to be that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Israel decided to align itself with Iran. Surrounded by hostile Arab neighbours and trapped in the centre, these two non-Arabs—Jews and Persians—found common ground in each other. Secretly, they supported and assisted one another, fostering a discreet alliance. Their relationship dates back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar.

Even after the Islamic invasion and its golden age, Jews remained involved until the era of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Iran was one of the first countries globally to recognise Israel as a sovereign state. It was said that Israel and Iran shared intelligence secrets and collaborated on developing each other's nuclear facilities. Iran compensated Israel with Iranian oil for assistance. The Islamic clerics within Iran were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Iranians began to view their monarchy as a pawn in the American imperial chess game. Everything changed when the people rose against the Shah, encouraged by the clerics, in 1979, leading to Iran becoming the Islamic Republic. Overnight, Israel became Iran's enemy for occupying Palestine. The Republic, emboldened by the success of the first Islamic Republic, sought to position itself as the de facto leader of the Islamic world by promoting Islamic causes. They even claimed that Israelis should be wiped off the surface of the planet.

Iranian-supported militias operate across many parts of the Middle East — Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas within Palestine (antagonistic to the PLO but allied with the Muslim Brotherhood), and Houthis in Yemen. On one level, there appears to be a Shia-Sunni division in their aims. Iran does not see any reason for Saudi Arabia to lead the Muslim world. The split within the religion mainly concerns internal control, but when facing a common enemy, the Shia-Sunni divide becomes less clear. For example, in Palestine, Shia Iranians support Hamas, the Sunni Palestinians. The Muslim Brotherhood is Sunni. In Yemen, the conflict with Saudi Arabia is often viewed simply as a Sunni Shia war. Of course, American influence in Saudi oil is frequently blamed for all problems. Jews are usually considered everyone's primary enemies. Terrorists often cite obscure parts of the Quran, such as where a Jewish tribe betrays the Prophet or about the End of Days and a rock whispering to Muslims to kill Jews hiding behind it to justify their reckless violence against Jews.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8339854/

This is a gripping Israeli espionage miniseries about a Mossad operative of Iranian descent who infiltrates the Iranian elite to sabotage their radar system so the Israeli air force can bomb their nuclear plant. If it had succeeded, the entire operation would have ended in the first episode. Unfortunately, the whole plan was compromised by Israeli internal agents. Mossad now must rely on its intelligence to complete the mission.

It's a classic spy versus spy scenario, as both sides of the intelligence community hold many cards close to their chest. Coincidentally, I remember a time not so long ago when Mossad deployed a computer virus to sabotage Iran’s nuclear facilities. The prospect of a hostile atomic nation within firing range sends shivers down the spines of Israelis. The world has also heard of Mossad planting an explosive device in Tehran three months before top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh came for an official visit and was placed at a guest house at a supposedly secret location, with the Israelis remotely aiming a missile to kill him. The truth is that there is plenty of espionage, counterespionage, double-crossing, and wheeling and dealing happening between the two countries. The world remains perplexed by how such an elaborate operation could be carried out with such surgical precision.

This miniseries probably stems from their extensive history of international intelligence operations. Sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://www.profitableratecpm.com/eavw6i1vus?key=563e27a9bff24095551c69d633759b79

Friday, 3 March 2023

This is how international relations work!

The Ipcress File (1965)
Director: Sidney J. Furie

We always think that violence, espionage, eavesdropping, intelligence archiving, military building and sabotage are events that only happened in the past. We have confined them in the fiction row of our bookshelves and assume it does not occur in real life. We give humans way too much credence.

This business of international relations began as early as the time Man picked up a weapon to knock down his neighbour.

Just found out recently, of all the people, the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth I and the Ottoman Empire had a good thing going between the two. After being labelled an outcast by the Roman Catholic Church for the shenanigans of King Henry VIII, there was animosity between England and many European superpowers of that time. The Spanish, Italians, French, Russian and Portuguese were all under the thumb of the Vatican.

The English naturally found friendship in 'the enemy of the enemy'. In the eyes of the Ottoman, the Anglicans (i.e. British) were not idolaters. Unlike the Catholics who found pleasure in worshipping the statues of a caring mother or a man on a crucifix, the Anglican houses of worship were pristinely bare. Beyond all that was business. The British wanted to lay their hands on many Muslim traits like raisins and spices. The Moors from Morocco actually had expansion plans. They had, in their mind, a joint venture with the British, a conquest over the Spanish territories in the Americas. By then, the Spanish armadas were scooping gold by the shiploads from ancient civilisations.

Sir Henry Hyde, after whose family Hyde Park is named, lived during this time. He was a royalist during the English Civil War. He worked as an agent for the Levant Company, which became the precursor to the East India Company. He later became a Consul under the Ottoman administration. At the same time, this man also was a spy for the Venetians. After their classic sea battle in Cyprus, the Venetians had a bone to pick with the Ottomans. Hyde informed the political and military secrets to the Venetians.

Working within the crowd of Cromwell supporters, Hyde was captured while fighting for King Charles II and was executed in the Tower of London.

If you think Aurangzeb's planned murder of his brother, Dara Shikoh, was brutal, King Ashoka was no saint. He had his 99 brothers killed before sitting on the throne.

We all grew up reading and listening to the covert operations on both sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War era. Both ideologies, suffering from extreme delusion and cognitive dissonance, thought the other would annihilate each other. Ultimately, they almost ended up sending the whole planet up in a mushroom cloud twice.

It is during this time that this movie is set. In the swinging sixties, with the background of miniskirts, baby doll dresses and bright colours, it is a joy to watch a young Michael Caine doing his suave 'licence to kill' James Bond manoeuvres.

A point to note is that even though the Americans seem to be on the side of the West, they also keep a tight rein on their subordinates. This is just to make sure that they know how the boss is.

We thought spying and honey trappings were only a legacy of the past. Wrong. Even as late as the 21st century, these are ongoing. The US accused the Chinese of using their goodwill to siphon off sensitive state secrets back home, as the US was the innocent party.

It is just how the world works. We don't hold hands and sing Kumbayah.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

Tuesday, 20 December 2016

An extrovert spy?

The Secret Life of Uri Geller – Psychic Spy?

BBC Documentary (2013)

Director: Vikram Jayanti

The flamboyant Mossad and CIA secret agent always liked the attention but led a mysterious life. He wants to keep his admirers guessing of his ability as he finds joy in doing his stuff under the radar, under the cloak of secrecy and the excuse of national security.

Growing up in the 60s in Nicosia, he partook in the Six-Day War in 1967. After the war, he was a celebrity in the Tel Aviv entertainment circle as a performer performing spoon-bending mind tricks. He is said to possess psychokinetic powers, ability to do remote viewing and had psychic powers. His penchant for sticking around the wealthy and famous landed him in Mexico, doing a gig with a local TV and slowly building a strong bond with the first family. There, he is said to have done CIA's dirty work of erasing Russian floppy disks with remote viewing ability and psychokinetic skills. He then made his way to New York. Geller is said to be involved in CIA's secret, sometimes labelled fictitious, programme named Stargate Project. This project is supposed to develop ways to secretly 'view' enemies' documents from a distance.

In 1976, he is said to have used his gift to help the Israeli fighter planes to escape radar detection by the Egyptian Army as they flew past their airspace to get to Entebbe airway to rescue the 100 over hostages held in an Air France plane by Palestinian hijackers.

His activities are all hush-hush. His services were in great demand at the heights of the Cold War. Even though the Stargate Project was officially terminated in 1995, his services were apparently reactivated after 9/11. In the documentary, Uri Geller finds intense pleasure in keeping his viewers in suspense. He does not admit or deny any of his clandestine activities.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.