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Document 41 of S4
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
June 2, 2004 Wednesday
late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section A; Column 3; Foreign Desk; THE REACH OF WAR: :THE OFFENSE; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1178 words
I:IEADUNE: Chalabi Reportedly Told Iran That U.S. Had Code
BYLINE: By JAMES RISEN and DAVID JOHNSTON
DATELINE: WASHINGTON, June 1
BODY:
Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi leader and former ally of the Bush administration, disclosed to an Iranian official that the United States
had broken the secret communications code of Iran's Intelligence service, betraying one of Washington's most valuable sources of .
Information about Iran, according to United States Intel,ligence officials.
The general charge that Mr. Chalabi provided Iran with critical American intelligence secrets was Widely reported last month after
the Bush administration cut off financial aid to Mr. Chalabl's organization, the Iraqi National Congress, and American and Iraqi
security forces raided his Baghdad headquarters.
The Bush administration, citing national security concerns, asked The New York Times and other news organizations not to publish
details of the case. The Times agreed to hold off publication of some specific Information that top Intelligence officials said would
compromise a vital, continuing Intelligence operation. The administration Withdrew Its request on Tuesday, saying Information about
the code-breaking was starting to appear in news accounts•
.Mr. Chalabi and his aides have said he knew of no secret Information related to Iran' and therefore could not have communicated
any Intel1lgence to Tehran. ~
American officials said that about six weeks ago, Mr. Chalabl told the Baghdad statton chief ofIran's Ministry of Intelligence and ®
Security that the United States was reading the communications traffic of the Iranian spy service, one of the most sophisticated InD~A V ~
the Middle East.
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According to American officials, the Iranian official In Baghdad, possibly not believing Mr•. Chalabl's account, sent a cable to Tehran
detailing his conversation with Mr. Chalabi, using the broken code. That encrypted cable, Intercepted and read by the United States,
tipped off American officials to the fact that Mr. Chalabi had betrayed the code-breaking operation, the American officials said.
American officials reported that in the cable to Tehran, the Iranian official recounted how Mr. Chalabi had said that one of "them ll -­
a reference to an American .-, had revealed the code-breaking operation, the officials said. The Iranian reported that Mr. Chalabi
said the American was drunk.
The Iranians sent what American Intelligence regarded as a test message, which mentioned a cache of weapons Inside Iraq,
belieVing that if the code had been broken, United States military forces would be qUickly dispatched to the specified site. But there
was no such action.
'
The account of Mr. Chalabi's actions has been confirmed by several senior American officials, who said the leak contributed to the
White House decision to break with him.
It could not be learned exactly how the United States broke the code. But Intelligence sources said that In the past, the United
States has broken Into the embassies of foreign governments, Including those of Iran, to steal Information, Including codes.
The F.B.I. has opened' an espionage Investigation seeking to determine exactly what information Mr. Chalabi turned over to the
Iranians as well as who told Mr. Chalabi that the Iranian code had been broken, government officials said. The Inquiry, stili In an
early'phase, Is focused. o~ a verY. small number of people who were close to Mr. Chalabi and also had access to the highly restricted
inf~rmatlon about the Iran code. . . _ 6S\t,,\\lf-~