Interesting LAT Greg Miller piece on a CIA operation homing in on Iranian-backed militants operating in South America:

Iran and its spy service, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, have long had a significant presence in South America. U.S. intelligence officials said the region's lax border security and active trade routes are attractions to an Islamic republic eager to use illicit means to acquire technology and materials that the country cannot otherwise get because of restrictions on trade with the United States and other nations...

Hezbollah, the militant Iranian-backed Islamic organization, has a significant presence in South America, officials said. Hezbollah, which also has a prominent political presence in Lebanon, is considered by some experts to be among the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world.

Iran and Hezbollah are believed to have used South America as an operational and recruiting base for at least two decades. Iran was suspected of involvement in devastating attacks in the 1990s, including the 1994 bombing that killed nearly 100 people at a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a 1992 attack that destroyed the Israeli embassy in that city.

The five-year operation was shut down when CIA resources were pulled to devote to al Qaeda and Iraq, Miller reports.

Posted by Laura at March 27, 2005 02:56 PM