The Atlantic magazine published an extensive investigation revealing the secrets of a senior officer in Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security named Mohammad Hossein Tajik, who led a double life as a CIA spy.
Mohammad Hossein Tajik provided intelligence that led to the downfall of prominent global militant leaders before being killed by his father. He was the head of Iran’s elite cyberwarfare unit and shared his story with journalist Shane Harris in 2016, detailing his deep involvement in some of Iran’s most sensitive security operations.
In December 2011, the CIA lost control of a stealth drone near Kashmar, Iran, 140 miles from the Afghan border, which ultimately fell into Iranian hands. Iranian state television displayed the boomerang-shaped drone as a war trophy, with banners under its 30-foot wings reading in Persian: “The United States cannot mess with us” and “We will crush America under our feet.”
The cause of the crash was initially mysterious—did the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel drone deviate from its course, or did Iranian hackers capture it, demonstrating a growing cyber-military capability that concerned U.S. officials?
In April 2016, an Iranian hacking group known as “Parastoo” (“Swallow” in Persian) posted its email on a cybersecurity forum, inviting journalists to inquire about the drone’s fate. Shane Harris contacted them, and a person identified as “P” responded, seeking to protect his identity and willing to reveal the story via interviews or encrypted messaging.
“P” revealed that he was part of Parastoo, which had previously hacked the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency servers and the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, and had even claimed the ability to control U.S. military drones, once suggesting an attack on then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Through encrypted messaging, “P” coordinated a meeting in Tehran. During the interaction, “P” verified Harris’s identity and then disclosed that he was an officer in Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, leading an elite cyberwarfare unit capable of downing U.S. drones.
He described how his unit tracked the Sentinel drone via satellite and radio signals, studied its stealth capabilities, and prevented it from returning to Afghanistan, forcing it to make an emergency landing due to fuel depletion.
By May 11, “P” revealed his identity as Mohammad Hossein Tajik, 35, and admitted that many Iranian cyber operations bore his signature or were fully designed by him.
Tajik stated that his goal was not primarily to discuss the drone, which was merely a lure, but to leak intelligence on Iranian operations to harm and humiliate Iranian leaders who had angered him. He also revealed that he had previously worked as a CIA operative and aimed to rebuild his relationship with the agency.
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