Leaked Iran Cables Show How Tehran Turned CIA’s Iraqi Agent ‘Donnie Brasco’ and Undermined Iraq
FLIP
A 700-page cache of secret documents leaked to The Intercept, which shared them with The New York Times, has exposed Iran’s vast influence in Iraq, showing how Iranian spies have infiltrated every aspect of Iraq’s political, economic, and religious life. The cache also shows how Iranian security services were able to capitalize on America’s hasty withdrawal from the country; in one episode recounted in the documents, an Iraqi who had previously spied for the CIA, nicknamed Donnie Brasco—after the 1997 film about an FBI undercover agent trying for six years to infiltrate the New York mafia—defected to the Iranians in November 2014, revealing the locations of CIA safe houses, the names of hotels where CIA operatives met with agents, details of his weapons and surveillance training, and the names of other Iraqis working as spies for the Americans. The man had worked for the CIA for 18 months earning $3,000 per month, plus a one-time bonus of $20,000 and a car. The archive, mainly comprising documents written in 2014 and 2015 by Iran’s equivalent of the CIA, shows how Iran has outmaneuvered the United States in the contest for influence in Iraq. The Times and The Intercept say they have verified the authenticity of the documents but do not know who leaked them. The Intercept communicated over encrypted channels with the source, who declined to meet with a reporter. In these anonymous messages, the source said that they wanted to “let the world know what Iran is doing in my country Iraq.”