Iran International
A month after Israeli strikes exposed deep infiltration of Iran’s security apparatus, the debate dominates headlines almost daily—yet no meaningful investigation has been launched, and no serious action appears underway.
Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars News has blamed foreign-based betting websites and other digital platforms for leaking information that allegedly enabled Israel to assassinate more than 30 senior IRGC commanders.
Officials have also accused Afghan refugees of acting as Israeli agents, deporting over a million in what UN officials describe as one of the largest expulsions in recent memory.
But many insiders are now challenging these deflections with growing force.
“When we talk about infiltration, we shouldn’t just look for people who look different from us,” former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with the state-run IRNA.
“We should ask: who is echoing Israel’s narrative? Who is pushing that policy? Who is trying to divide the people?”
“Not just a spy, but an organization”
Dozens of people have been arrested as alleged operatives behind assassinations and drone attacks since the strikes began on June 13.
Several have been executed after summary trials, and more remain on death row, according to Iran’s intelligence minister.
Zarif warned that infiltration has evolved beyond isolated actors.
“We’re now facing not just a spy, but an organization—an organization with personnel, ideas, and psychological influence,” he said.“We need to understand where this infiltration comes from. What allowed them to locate and strike our commanders—not just once, but again and again?”
On social media, blame has increasingly turned inward—particularly toward surviving Revolutionary Guards commanders.
Users have questioned whether high-ranking officers, including Quds Force leader Esmail Qa’ani and former national security chief Ali Shamkhani, betrayed the locations of fellow commanders.
Accusations of treason have spread with growing boldness, fueled by the absence of transparent explanations. Bizarre theories—such as officials suggesting Israel summoned supernatural beings—have satisfied no one.
“Who has access to secrets?”
“The authority responsible for identifying espionage is crucial,” Saeed Hajjarian, one of the architects of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, told the moderate daily Ham-Mihan.
“Counterintelligence is a specialized field, and I still don’t understand why it has been divided between two intelligence agencies.”
Hajjarian criticized the superficial handling of the issue and the growing tendency to scapegoat.
“Right now, people are being branded as infiltrators far too casually,” he warned.
“A real infiltrator stays quiet when needed and speaks up when it counts ... Those who change ideology overnight, convert dramatically or shift allegiances shouldn’t be trusted.”
Even some establishment figures have pushed back on the official narrative.
“This problem predates the war—it just became more visible because of it,” hardline cleric Seyyed Reza Akrami, a five-term parliamentarian, told Arman Melli.
“We must identify which of the country’s senior managers are truly committed to national progress—and which have placed personal gain above the nation’s interests.”
Echoing widespread online sentiment, Akrami posed a blunt question: “Did Afghan refugees have access to classified intelligence? Absolutely not. Were they involved in policymaking? Again, no.”
Iran is smarting from intelligence lapses in the 12-day war which allowed its arch-foe to assassinate top military figures and wreak havoc on bases and nuclear sites.
Hundreds of civilians were killed in the shock campaign last month.
The scale of the setback has sent bewildered officialdom searching for answers, and one Iranian lawmaker cited Shakdam's presence as a case study in infiltration.
Presenting herself as a Muslim convert and writer critical of Israel and the United States, Shakdam interviewed senior Iranian officials as a freelance journalist and attended various state-backed conferences on multiple visits up until 2017.
Iranian MP Mostafa Kavakebian said in a state TV interview last week that Shakdam was an Israeli spy who had slept with 120 senior officials, citing no evidence.
Speaking to Iran International, Shakdam was blunt about the remarks: “Not true, not possible, and completely absurd."
"They’re trying to destroy my character. I’ve got news for them — I do not give a shit. And you can quote me on this.”
Kavakebian's allegation drew fire online, where critics cited it as an example of poor logic, and even Iranian legal authorities who appeared eager to swiftly scotch discussion of the country's security failures.
Tehran’s prosecutor filed charges against Kavakebian for “disturbing public opinion,” calling the claims “unsupported" and summoned him to provide evidence.
State media outlet the West Asia News Agency (WANA), said the state had found no sign of espionage in Shakdam's case.
"Iran’s security and judicial bodies have explicitly stated that no documents or reports exist indicating immoral behavior, suspicious connections or illegal activities by Shakdam during her time in Iran."
Double life
Shakdam now works as a political analyst and spokesperson for an Israeli advocacy group We Believe In Israel.
She first drew the attention of Iranian authorities after publishing an opinion piece in the English-language Yemen Observer newspaper criticizing US intervention in Iraq. In 2009, she had moved to Yemen after marrying a Yemeni man.
The couple had two children before later divorcing. Her writings and public commentary eventually led to an invitation to appear on Iranian state TV as a Western voice critical of US foreign policy — a platform that opened the door to extraordinary access within Iran’s political elite.
That access, she says, revealed a system obsessed with propaganda and deeply rooted anti-Semitism.
“If you want to call me a master spy — yes, of my own agency, okay?” she told Iran International. “I went there on my own two feet. No one asked me to do anything.”
Her mission, she says, was self-assigned — but it came at a steep personal cost.
“Ten years of hard work, ten years of pretending and playing the game, and ten years of almost losing myself — because you reach a point where you don't know where you begin and the lie ends.”
During her time in Iran, she says she met top figures including Ebrahim Raisi before he became president and later died in a helicopter crash, Revolutionary Guards Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
With dark humor, she recalled: “I had a little chat with Soleimani — obviously before he died because I don’t speak to ghosts. Raisi, obviously … Nader Talebzadeh many times. He died too. Not of my doing, okay. I had nothing to do with that.”
She joked that if she were a spy, she must be “00 Fluffy” — her own spin on 007, due to her owning many pet cats.
Warnings
The humiliation of Iran's military losses appears to be playing out in Iran's seemingly permanent power struggle between reformists and hardliners.
WANA characterized MP Kavakebian's TV outburst as an attempt to undermine hardliners who had welcomed Shakdam into their midst after foreign attacks last month failed to deliver the upheaval moderates supposedly seek in Iran.
"The lack of Iranian public support for Israel’s attack—even among those critical of the ruling system and governance quality in Iran—and the refusal to participate in street unrest, went against the expectations of pro-Western reformists inside the country."
"Perhaps the 'Mossad spy' story in Iran is not a bad place to start attacking a rival," WANA added. "Still, it must not be forgotten that the biggest beneficiaries of any internal division in Iran are those sitting in Tel Aviv."
Shakdam believes she was targeted because she is more visible and critical of Iran than ever following the 12-day war. Shakdam says the attack is rooted in the Islamic Republic’s deep-seated sexism and aimed at silencing outspoken women.
But after a decade of deception and backlash, she says she has no regrets.
“I just made a decision to do something with my life. And I did it. And I came out. And I’m proud of it.”