Rigi: US, Israel paid for assassination

Press TV

Captured Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi has said that while in Morocco, suspected Israeli or US agents had given him a list of people to assassinate in Tehran.

In a recent interview, Rigi told Press TV that before his arrest Jundallah had held a series of meetings in Casablanca with a group who had claimed to be NATO contacts.

"When we looked back at all the things that had happened we felt that two things were unclear. First, if they are from NATO why did they not meet with us in Afghanistan where they have bases and where they can contact us in a much more easy and secure manner," said Rigi.

"The second issue was that the first time they informed us that NATO forces wanted to meet with us we thought they were going to speak about eastern parts of Iran, because NATO forces are stationed in Afghanistan," he added.

"But they insisted that we should transfer our operations from the eastern border region to the capital. We thought that this was very strange. When we thought about it we came to the conclusion that they are either Americans acting under NATO cover or Israelis," he further explained.

Accordign to Rigi, the Israeli or US agents said they would provide him with a list of names, addresses, and photos of people who they had to assassinate in Tehran as well as any other equipment and explosives they may need to carry out their operations.

He further pointed out that they had promised him very high sums for the overall project as well as specific amounts for each assassination.

Iranian security forces arrested Rigi while he was onboard a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan in late February.

Jundallah, which is based in Pakistan, has carried out numerous bombings, assassination attempts, and terrorist attacks in Iran, one of which killed at least 40 people in the southeastern city of Pishin.

After his arrest, the ringleader confessed that Western intelligence agencies supported his terror activities against Iran.

During the interview, Rigi also said that his activities were undoubtedly the result of "a mix of ignorance and hatred."