Khamenei Calls For Coordination Among Iranian Intelligence Outfits

In a somewhat unexpected move, media in Tehran reported Thursday that a meeting was called between Iran's intelligence bodies, signaling possible discord.

The joint meeting of the Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC was held June 16 in the religious city of Mashhad.

The session was opened with the message of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who urged for more mutual understanding and synergy.

“Intelligence is one of the most important issues of the country, and one of our weaknesses in relation to intelligence systems is the lack of coordination,” read Khamenei’s message.

The meeting comes as a lack of coordination between the intelligence organizations has led to major cyber attacks from regime opposition groups. Repeated acts of sabotage attributed to Israel have also plagued the Iranian regime since July 2020.

Most recently, a hacktivist group broke into servers of the Iranian president’s office in late May and leaked troves of sensitive data, proving corruption, conflicts, and an ongoing nuclear expansion.

Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib and the IRGC Commander Hossein Salami were among the speakers of Thursday's meeting, both underlining the necessity of better coordination.

The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian and the Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi also called for a joint strategy.

It seems that there are deep rifts between the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence and Khamenei continues to heal the rifts but with over a dozen bodies involved in the country’s security, none of them want to lose its dominance.

However, multiple intelligence services were created during Khamenei's 34-year-old rule.