BOOKS DETAIL CIA SPY RECRUITMENT IN IRAN

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These two books cover the CIA's spy recruitment efforts in Iran. "A Time to Betray" is more exciting than a fictional spy thriller and details the true-story accounts from a CIA operative's memoirs of the inner workings of Iran's notorious Revolutionary Guards. "A Time to Betray" contains memoirs were revealed by an Iranian citizen recruited inside the Revolutionary Guard ranks by the CIA. 

The book describes the human side of being a spy for the CIA. Family and friendships torn apart by Iran's terror-mongering regime and how the adult choices of three childhood friends during the Islamic Republic yielded divisive and tragic fates. The CIA-recruited spy is real and the book describes his commitment to lead a shocking double life of informing on the beloved country of his birth, a place that once offered the promise of freedom and enlightenment...but instead ruled by murderous violence and spirit-crushing oppression.

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A second book on the CIA's involvement in Iran should be read by all in the clandestine services- "Iran and the CIA: The Fall of Mosaddeq Revisited". It describes Reza Kahlili, who grew up in Tehran surrounded by his close-knit family and two spirited boyhood friends. The Iran of his youth allowed Reza to think and act freely, and even indulge a penchant for rebellious pranks in the face of the local mullahs. His political and personal freedoms flourished while he studied computer science at the University of Southern California in the 1970s. But his carefree time in America was cut short with the sudden death of his father, and Reza returned home to find a country on the cusp of change. The revolution of 1979 plunged Iran into a dark age of religious fundamentalism under the Ayatollah Khomeini, and Reza, clinging to the hope of a Persian Renaissance, joined the Revolutionary Guards, an elite force at the beck and call of the Ayatollah.

But as Khomeini's tyrannies unfolded, as his fellow countrymen turned on each other, and after the horror he witnessed inside Evin Prison, a shattered and disillusioned Reza returned to America to dangerously become "Wally," a spy for the CIA. "Iran and the CIA: The Fall of Mosaddeq Revisited" was lauded by Shahram Chubin, Director of Studies, Geneva Centre for Security Policy. Chubin stated of the book, "This is an important and beautifully balanced study of the overthrow of Iran's Prime Minister Mosaddeq".

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association Of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of this site's ad revenues is donated to the AFIO. The views expressed on this site do not represent those of any organization he is a member of. We're always looking for different perspectives regarding the Intelligence Community- got a thought, article or comment you'd like to submit? Contact us on the Secure Contact Form.