SOVIET AIDE REPORTEDLY DEFECTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100010026-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2010
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: October 18, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100010026-3
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18 October 1982
Soviet aide reportedly defects
Bv Ronald Koven
Special to The Globe
PARIS - The defection to the West of
a Soviet official in charge of relations
with Iran's communist party, the Tu-
deh. has undermined the party's posi-
tion in Iran. according to well-informed
Iranian and Western sources.
Yuri Anisimov, officially a low-rank-
ing diplomat at the Soviet embassy in
Tehran. disappeared mysteriously In
June and has yet to surface publicly.
Reliable sources sav he has been
spirited out of Iran to Britain. Since ar-
riving in Britain, or before leaving Iran,
he appears to have provided extensive
information on the Tudeh that seems to
have helped anti-Soviet factions in the
Iranian Islamic government root out
pro-Soviet infiltrators.
There have been several raids and
arrests of high-level Tudeh members,
indicating that the Iranian authorities
are well-informed about the party's
clandestine apparatus. There is also in-
tense speculation that the defector was
in a position to give away the identities
of at least some of the Soviet infiltrators
belonging to the numerous ethnic mi-
nority groups that straddle the Soviet-
Iranian border. There have been re-
ports of large numbers of such agents
coming into the country soon after the
Islamic revolution in early 1979.
Although the Soviet Union support-
ed-the shah of Iran in an effort to bol-
ster stability in the sensitive region, the
Tudeh and the Soviets switched to Ava-
tollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the
shah was overthrown. The Tudeh's
tactics were to keep a low profile and to
stick as close as possible to Khomeini
and his mullahs. regardless of the fre-
quent political humilitations suffered
by the Soviets at the hands of the Isla-
mic revolutionaries.
While the Tudeh was quietly work-
ing itself into positions of influence in
the Iranian administration, it appar-
ently was also maintaining its under-
ground organization. just in case.
. The Iranian government apparently
kept the Soviets in the dark for a long
time concerning the whereabouts of
their diplomat, whose job gave him de-
tailed information about the Tudeh.
Initially uncertain about what had
happened to Anisimov, the Soviets are
understood to have asked the Islamic
government to help find him.
At first, according to an account put
together from several sources with ac-
cess to pieces of the puzzle. the Iranian
government replied that it was unable
to find him.
More recently. however, the Tehran
government informed the Soviets that
Anisimov had left Iran for Britain, reli-
able sources say.
A Farsi-speaking specialist in Iran-
ian affairs. Anisimov arrived in Tehran
more than five years ago, in late 1976,
and was maintained at the lowly rank
of third secretary at the embassy. This
has raised informed speculation that
he was, in fact, a ranking KGB officer.
His functions apparently gave him
unusual freedom of movement, unlike
most Soviet diplomats in Tehran. who
are largely confined to the big Soviet
embassy compound or travel in pairs.
One source said the Soviet defector had
been in touch with the British for some
time. British officials here said they
knew nothing about the case.
The defector's abandoned car was
found in early June in western Tehran.
near intelligence headquarters of the
Iranian army. At first, independent ob-
servers in Tehran were unsure which
of the 40 Soviet diplomats officially list-
ed at the embassy had disappeared. It
was also unclear whether the Russian
had been kidnaped by an opposition
group, had been killed or had defected.
It became clear, however, from
strengthened Soviet security precau-
tions and other nervous behavior that
the Soviets in Tehran were worried.
Soon after Anisimov's disappear-
ance, the Islamic authorities raided an
important Tudeh communications cen-
ter in the neighborhood where his car
was found, sources said. The raid,
which was never announced, also net-
ted an important leader of the Tudeh
underground, Hossein Zadeh, the
sources said. The communications fa-
cility was camouflaged as an interroga-
tion center of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard, they said.
This was followed by accusations by
the Tudeh and the Islamic Revolution-
ary Guards that each was infiltrating
the other's organization. The Tudeh ac-
cusations came in party leaflets whose
public distribution is still tolerated,
even though the official Tudeh new-
paper, Mardom, has been banned.
Several known leaders of Tudeh, in-
cluding the former editor of Mardom,
were also arrested. Nouredin Kinouri,
leader of the Tudeh for 33 years, re-
signed as the party's first secretary, al-
though he evidently continues to be its
effective leader.
Sources link the loss of influence of
pro-Tudeh clerics to the defection of
Anisimov. The most notable was the
fall from the vice presidency of Iran's
parliament in mid-July of Hojatoleslam
Mussavi Khoiniha, the "spiritual
guide" of the Islamic students who took
the US embassy staff in Tehran hos-
tage. He has close family and political
ties to the Tudeh.
But the Tudeh's apparent loss of in-
fluence takes place in the confusing
flow of currents and crosscurrents in
Iran. As an apparent consolation for
his loss of office, Khoiniha was named
by Ayatollah Khomeini to be leader and
to give "a new dimension" to the Hai,
the annual pilgrimage to Mecca of the
Moslem faithful. Khoiniha was given
official backing to try to turn the pil-
grimage into a major campaign against
moderate Arab governments, especially
Saudi Arabia.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100010026-3