Kelly: Iran's Spying on US, Not Sticks

Frankie Edozien, The New York Post:

Iran has an "aggressive" spy program targeting New York City, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly warned yesterday as he protested the slashing of federal homeland-security funds.

"They [Iran] have an aggressive surveillance system, the Iranians do, and have had for a long time," Kelly said.

"The Iranians have done this in the past, but they are not going to other cities to do it. They are doing it here in New York. They are aggressively surveilling us," he added. READ MORE

Kelly testified before a joint hearing of the City Council's Finance and Public Safety committees that was looking at the impact of the loss of over $80 million in funding from the federal government.

The city's top cop detailed for lawmakers 17 terrorist-related events in the city's recent past, including three incidents of Iranian diplomats spying.

In June 2002, Iranian security personnel at its U.N. mission were expelled by State Department officials after having videotaped landmarks and infrastructure.

The following November, cops caught two more people from that mission videotaping tracks and tunnels of the No. 7 subway line.

And in June 2004, the FBI caught two more security officials from Iran's U.N. mission taping landmarks and sensitive sites in the city. They also were expelled.

In the meantime, NYPD officials are examining whether they can implement the lower Manhattan initiative - a high-tech security ring - with city funds only.