Some key Iranian officials have defected due to a secret
defector program launched by the CIA, the Los Angeles Times
reported on Sunday.
The CIA launched the program in 2005 in a bid to degrade Iran's
nuclear weapons program by persuading key officials to defect, the
paper said.
This effort has prompted a "handful" of significant departures,
current and former U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the
operation were quoted as saying.
The previously undisclosed program, which CIA officials dubbed
"the Brain Drain," is part of a major intelligence push against
Iran ordered by the White House two years ago, according to the
paper.
The White House ordered the stepped-up effort in hopes of
gathering stronger evidence that Tehran was making progress toward
building a nuclear bomb, said the paper.
Intelligence gathered as part of that campaign provided much of
the basis for a U.S. report released last week that concluded the
Islamic Republic had halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003, said
the paper.
Officials declined to say how much of that intelligence could be
attributed to the CIA program to recruit defectors.
The paper said that although the CIA effort on defections has
been aimed in part at gaining information about Tehran's nuclear
capabilities, its goal has been to undermine Iran's emerging
capabilities by plucking key scientists, military officers and
other personnel from its nuclear roster.
But the program has had limited success. Fewer than six
well-placed Iranians have defected, and none has been in a position
to provide comprehensive information on Tehran's nuclear program, according to the
paper.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2007)
