23/05/2007 Security think-tank: Iran may be preparing to strike Europe
By The Associated Press
A European security analyst told British lawmakers on Tuesday that Iran may be drawing up plans to strike targets in Europe, and has conducted reconnaissance of European nuclear power stations in particular.
Claude Moniquet, president of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, a private think-tank in Brussels, told a meeting of lawmakers and analysts in London's House of Commons that his organization also had evidence Tehran has increased numbers of intelligence agents across Europe.
"We have serious signals that something is under preparation in Europe," Moniquet said, though he did not present any evidence to the meeting. "Iranian intelligence is working extremely hard to prepare its people and to prepare actions," he said.
The center, which he said deals directly with European intelligence agencies, believes Iranian operatives have carried out reconnaissance of targets in European cities, including nuclear power stations, said Moniquet. He mentioned no other specific targets.
According to Moniquet, preparations to target Europe's nuclear energy plants could be a result of the diplomatic standoff over Tehran's contested nuclear program.
Moniquet added that Iran appeared to be preparing to target British citizens on the streets of London, "just as they kill British soldiers in the south of Iraq," he said.
Foreign Ministry officials and Interior Ministry officials in Tehran were not immediately available for comment. Officials at Iran's London Embassy did not return calls requesting comment on Moniquet's claims.
The meeting at which Moniquet spoke was organized by Open Europe, a London think-tank, and Conservative lawmaker Patrick Mercer.
Mercer told the meeting that in December, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett had acknowledged worries about Tehran backing terrorist activity inside Britain.
Beckett told lawmakers "There were concerns about the scale and nature of terrorism in this country, and about whether some of that is inspired or funded in any way by forces in and around Iran."
British parliament's intelligence and security committee, a panel of lawmakers which reviews the work of Britain's MI5 and MI6 domestic and foreign spy agencies, also warned last year of an increased threat to U.K. interests from Iranian state-sponsored terrorism.
A government security official speaking on condition of anonymity said Iran was active in espionage and probably interested in compiling information on European military and industrial targets.
However, the official could not verify Moniquet's claim that Tehran had conducted reconnaissance on power plants or wthether it had increased numbers of agents in Britain.
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