Mossad Spy: (Iran's) Peaceful Nuke Program "Ridiculous"

Spy: Peaceful nuke program ridiculous

Michael Ross is a dual Canadian-Israeli citizen and former Mossad agent who worked for the agency between 1989 and 2001. He tells of his career as a spy in a book “The Volunteer: A Canadian’s Secret Life in the Mossad.” One of his many duties included serving as a spy in Iran.

Q: When did you work in Iran?

A: In the early 1990s, when Iran started developing its nuclear wea­pons program; it later became an ongoing operation.

Q: What was your purpose there?

A: We checked whether or not it was possible to operate in the selected areas where Iran was likely to set up nuclear weapons facilities.

Q: Was being a spy in Iran a huge challenge?

A: Activities in Islamic regimes are bound to be difficult. As a Westerner you immediately stand out as a foreigner. We needed to take strict precautions to protect our cover. When countries like Syria barely had telephones working, Iranians were already branching out to computers. It’s a regime that wants to keep a technological edge.

Q: What else stood in your way?

A: Iran was pretty isolated. If we got in trouble our special forces couldn’t reach us, and this is the regime that does not have problems shooting its own people. This became obvious after the last elections.

Don’t you think Iran may just want a peaceful energy program?

A: There is no doubt about the fact that it is a weapons program. The scope of the program is huge. They are hiding it ... where they have set up heavy water plants and they have weapons laboratory in Tehran. How could anybody say it is not a weapons program? It is ridiculous. Iran is one of the major producers of oil. It imports half of its gasoline — that’s why they spend so much effort on their nuclear program and not on developing gasoline refineries.

DANIEL DENISIUK/METRO WORLD NEWS

Completely ridiculous...coming from an agent of the Mossad.