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Italy's La Repubblica has an important piece out today that advances a story my colleagues and I published in the Washington Monthly a couple months ago. Unfortunately it is not available online without a subscription and I am still getting it translated. But the gist of it is that the authors, Carlo Bonini and Giuseppe d'Avanzo, confirm the role of Sismi (the Italian military intelligence service) in the secret Rome meeting between Pentagon officials from the office of Doug Feith, Iranians, and Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar -- a fact that we were the first to report. The authors also scored an interview with Nicolo Pollari, the head of Sismi, who shared his view on the purpose of the meetings, why Sismi was involved (indeed, Pollari told them that the meeting took place at a Sismi safe house in Rome's Piazza di Spagna), and other interesting details. Pollari also claims that Ghorbanifar was not there -- (which is false; Ghorbanifar's presence at the meeting is a fact that no one at the Pentagon disputes. What Feith's office in fact says is that the Pentagon officials who attended the meeting did not know in advance that Ghorbanifar was going to be there and were surprised by his presence).
Update: Here's some of the interview with Pollari, with immense thanks to David L. and Piero for the translation:
Pollari: "It's true, we organized the meeting in Rome with the Iranians, but Ghorbanifar wasn't there. We didn't know these Iranians. One of them even asked us how to write his name. Anyway, the meeting. This is how it went. A minister calls me up. Who? No names. He tells me that the Pentagon wants to organize a meeting with some Iranians. They've got some information about matters concerning our national security. So I get to work. I keep an eye on things through two of my men. But all they talk about is tripe. But above all, oil contracts. ENI [Italian State Petroleum]. Concessions for new exploitation. Lines of credit for tens of millions of dollars ... As if the Sismi is some sort of hawkers' mart where
you buy and sell. I decide to alert the government. I spell out my misgivings about our institutional role ... I want to avoid any future misunderstandings..."