Iran International
The Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recruited a Ugandan construction worker to surveil Israel's embassies in Uganda and Senegal, materials from a European intelligence source reviewed by Iran International indicate.
Contacted for comment, neither the Ugandan nor Senegalese embassies immediately responded.
In a recording of his debriefing obtained and reviewed by Iran International, the Ugandan man said he was approached by a Pakistani national professing to belong to the Quds force.
The man, Zahid Jawad, instructed him to film the Israeli embassies in the two African countries and procure hand guns and grenades for a potential attack.
He added that an Iranian member of the Quds Force later contacted him on WhatsApp and offered payment in exchange for cooperation.
The Ugandan man said Quds Force members referred to him as “Rambo,” after the American action movie character.
Iran International has reviewed screenshots of some of the exchanges but cannot independently verify the authenticity of the communications.
Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tehran has in recent years been alleged by Western security agencies and media reports to have recruited petty criminals and gang members to carry out attacks on dissidents and Israeli interests.
A federal court in New York last month convicted two alleged mobsters of seeking to kill US-based Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in a plot prosecutors said was orchestrated by the IRGC.
Quds Force Unit 840
The intelligence source told Iran International that three Iranian members of the alleged bid to recruit the man have been identified as Meysam Sahraei, Reza Ghabadi and Abbas Mohammad Naeim.
The source said all three work for Unit 840 of the IRGC’s Quds Force commanded by Yazdan Mir, known by the alias Sardar Bagheri, whom Western intelligence agencies believe is tasked with targeting dissidents as well as Israeli and American interests.
Tehran has consistently denied such accusations.
In one of the Whatsapp exchanges, the Iranian contact allegedly allegedly sent the Ugandan man an image of a grenade and instructed him to purchase a similar device.
The Ugandan national asserted that his contact consulted a supervisor and obtained approval of funds to be transferred to his account.
Iran International has not been able to independently verify whether any payments were made or surveillance was carried out.
'Proxy of a proxy'
The intelligence source described Iran's method of recruiting foreign nationals via other foreign nationals as a “proxy-of-a-proxy” model.
A similar pattern was seen three years ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the same source, when the Quds Force allegedly recruited a Congolese student then studying at Al-Mustafa International University in Qom to scout potential targets.
His handler, the source said, was Mehdi Hassan, a Pakistani member of the Zainabiyoun Brigade militia which operated in Syria during that country's civil war.
Hotspot Uganda
Separate information obtained by Iran International appears to show that the IRGC may also be using Uganda as a logistical waypoint for arms shipments to its regional allies.
The East African nation maintains warm relations with Israel, and during a visit five years ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Ugandan president to consider opening an embassy in Jerusalem.
A source within Iran's Mahan Air told Iran International that the IRGC has been transporting weapons aboard a Boeing 747 aircraft registered with Fars Qeshm Air, using routes that pass through African countries en route to Yemen.
International flight registry data shows that on September 24, the aircraft flew from Bandar Abbas to Entebbe, Uganda.
According to the source, the plane first traveled from Tehran to Bandar Abbas to refuel due to the heavy cargo load. On October 28, the same aircraft reportedly made another delivery flight from Tehran to Uganda.
Data from Flightradar24 confirms that flights matching these routes took place, but flight-tracking information alone does not indicate cargo type or purpose.
The source said the Islamic Republic has sought new logistical corridors since the loss of its long-standing transit hub in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad last year.
Iran International contacted ministries for security and internal affairs in Uganda and Senegal, but neither responded immediately.
“If I were a decision maker, I would have joined the plan endorsed by Saudi Arabia, which conditions recognition of Israel on its acceptance of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders,” he said.
Safavi, 44, the son of former Revolutionary Guards commander Yahya Rahim Safavi, added: “Israel will never accept the two-state solution, but Iran would demonstrate it has no intention of undermining the internationally recognized order.”
He stressed he spoke personally and not for the state.
Safavi also said recognition of Israel is “impossible under Ayatollah Khamenei’s leadership,” while allowing that “in the long term, no one knows.”
The article said debate over Iran’s direction has widened among well-connected figures after a brief war with Israel in June.
Other prominent voices cited by the outlet include Faezeh Hashemi – a former lawmaker and daughter of ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – who said Iran should re-establish diplomatic ties with Washington and take “meaningful steps towards substantial change.”
The article also referenced figures from influential families who have at times diverged publicly from hardline positions, including cleric the grandchild of the Islamic Republic’s founder Hassan Khomeini, his brother Ali, and lawyer Hassan Younesi, the son of a former intelligence minister.
The article emphasized that their comments reflect a broader discussion inside elite circles rather than an official policy shift.
There is no indication Iran’s leadership plans to adopt the proposals described, the Financial Times said, adding that the debate may gain importance as the country looks ahead to eventual succession for the 86-year-old Supreme Leader.
Afarin (Masoumeh) Mohajer was detained on September 29 by security forces at Tehran's Khomeini International Airport, her son Reza Zarrabi told Iran International.
Human rights organizations had previously reported her arrest but said she was detained upon arrival in Tehran. His son, however, said she was arrested as she attempted to fly back to the United States.
Zarrabi, who is based in Frankfurt, said authorities detained his mother to pressure him into ending his political activism against Tehran’s Islamic theocracy. He calls himself a Republican and Liberal Democrat.
“We are aware of the detention of a US citizen in Iran and are closely tracking reports of this case,” the State Department spokesperson said in an email response when asked if Washington is aware of Mohajer’s detention.
"The Department of State has long warned Americans not to travel to Iran and that is particularly true now," the spokesperson added.
Zarrabi described his mother as warm and attached to him after he lost two siblings to suicide. She belonged to no political groups, he said.
Mohajer had travelled to Iran to attend to matters relating to an inheritance, Zarrabi added. She now faces charges he called false, including "membership in hostile groups, propaganda against the Islamic Republic on social media, insulting the Supreme Leader and insulting the religion (of Islam)."
Zarrabi said he has been a political activist for 14 years and a member of Iranian opposition think thanks, but that his mother had no role in his activities.
Mohajer is being held in the women’s section of Ward 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, Zarrabi added, saying she called last week to plead with him to stop his dissident activities and believes Iranian intelligence agents coerced her.
Zarrabi expressed worries for her health in prison as she suffers from brain cancer and is certain that she is not receiving medical treatment.
“I have no doubt that she is a hostage and a victim of the Iranian government’s hostage-taking toward the United States,” he said.
Relations between Tehran and Washington are at a low ebb after the United States joined a surprise Israeli military campaign on the country in June, attacking three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran has long detained foreign and dual nationals whom it eventually releases in exchange for political or financial concessions.
"Anyone with a US connection, including dual US-Iranian nationals, is at significant risk of questioning, arrest, and detention in Iran," the State Department told Iran International in its statement.
"Iranian authorities routinely delay consular access to detained US nationals. In particular, Iranian authorities consistently deny consular access to dual US-Iranian nationals."
In a post in Arabic on X, Larijani offered condolences for the deaths, describing those killed as having “reached their wish.”
He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “continues his adventurism to the point that everyone reaches the conclusion that there is no path left except direct confrontation with Israel.”
Hezbollah said the strike on Sunday killed Tabtabai, the group’s top military official, and wounded 28 others.
Israel’s military said it targeted Tabtabai in Beirut’s southern suburbs, calling him a senior official overseeing Hezbollah’s military readiness, in one of the most significant escalations since a US-brokered ceasefire in November 2024.
Iran has condemned the attack as a violation of the ceasefire and a “war crime,” and Hezbollah has said it crossed a “red line,” adding that its leadership would decide how to respond.
The United States designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and sanctioned Tabtabai in 2016, describing him as a key commander within the group.
