French Spies Confess to Role in Riots
TEHRAN -- Two French spies arrested in Iran some four months ago have admitted to their attempts to provoke anti-government protests and riots with the ultimate goal of putting pressure on the country’s Islamic establishment.
The two French nationals, Cécile Kohler, 37, and Jacqeus Paris, 69, traveled to Iran on April 28 as tourists but turned out to be spies for the Western agencies.
In a video aired on Iran’s Arabic-language television news network Al-Alam TV on Thursday, Kohler admitted to being an agent of the French General Directorate for External Security (DGSE), which is equivalent to the British MI6 and the American CIA.
In the recording, Kohler said she and her partner were in Iran with the main purpose of laying the groundwork for mass unrest in an attempt to trigger “a revolution” in the Islamic Republic and overthrow the Iranian government.
She explained that they brought in large sums of cash in order to fund riots and strikes, and purchase weaponry in an attempt to stir up chaos.
Kohler added that the weapons were meant to be used “to fight against the police,” if necessary.
According to the other spy, who was also shown in the video, the DGSE’s objective was to “put pressure on the Iranian government.”
Iran’s intelligence ministry announced in May that it had arrested the two French spies for attempting to stoke chaos and social disorder in the country during protests by teachers.
According to the ministry, the duo attempted to foment instability and social disorder when some teachers took to the streets in peaceful protests to demand fair wages and better working conditions.
Some photos show that the two were linked with teacher’s unionists including Rasoul Bodaghi.