CHICAGO — A man has been charged in connection with an Iranian spy plot in Chicago, according to federal authorities. The Justice Department on Monday unsealed the complaint, which said the plot may have targeted some members of Congress. The department said the Iranian government was seeking to “fix, track and neutralize” political opponents in the United States.

According to the federal complaint, Iranian-American Ahmadreza Mohammadi Doostdar, 38, spied on the Rohr Chabad Center in Hyde Park and other Jewish organizations. Authorities said he took photos of security at the facilities.

Majid Ghorbani, 59, was also charged in connection with the plot, authorities said. He was arrested in Los Angeles and transferred to Washington, D.C.

The news was first reported by the ABC7 I-Team, which rightfully called the plot “bizarre.”

Federal authorities said both men worked as foreign agents to “conduct covert surveillance” on the Mojahedin-e Khalq and Israeli/Jewish groups. The men then reported the information collected back to the Iranian government, the federal complaint states.

The complaint said information was gathered about several U.S. Congressmen who have “overt ties” to the Mojahedin-e Khalq. The information was found in a suitcase that was tied to Ghorbani and Doostdar, authorities said. The names of the congressmen haven’t been released.

According to the complaint, the plot aimed “to enable an intelligence or military unit to find, fix, track and neutralize a threat.”

Federal agents tracked Doostdar to the University of Chicago Oriental Institute and Museum, according to the complaint, where they said he displayed suspicious behavior.

“Examples of tradecraft employed by Doostdar include changing his clothes before each meeting, visiting meeting locations prior to the actual meeting, and arriving and departing from each meeting in a circuitous manner,” the complaint stated.

Doostdar’s attorney, Tom Durkin, referred Patch to his comments in the ABC 7 I-Team report, in which he stated, “It’s less than a coincidence that these charges come on the heels of President Trump’s new sanctions against Iran.”

“They chose not to afford my client a preliminary hearing,” Durkin told the I-Team, “but instead indicted him in a secret grand jury proceeding, which I think speaks volumes about the allegations.”

Authorities said Doostdar was born in California, but spent the past 35 years living in Iran. He was in Chicago visiting his brother, who is a University of Chicago professor.

Doostdar has a court hearing on Wednesday.

Image via Google Maps Streetview

Click Here: geelong cats guernsey 2019