Manucher Ghorbanifar
Manucher Ghorbanifar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 9 May 1945 |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Espionage activity | |
| Service branch | SAVAK |
| Service years | Unknown–1979 |
| Operations | NEQAB Iran–Contra affair |
| Other work | Arms dealer |
Manucher Ghorbanifar (Persian: منوچهر قربانیفر; nicknamed Gorba, born May 9, 1945) is an expatriate Iranian arms dealer and former SAVAK agent.
According to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Ghorbanifar was a double agent for Iran and Israel. The CIA director William Casey believed that Ghorbanifar was an Israeli agent.
He is best known as a middleman in the Iran–Contra Affair during the Ronald Reagan presidency. He re-emerged in American politics during the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq during the first term of President George W. Bush as a back-channel intelligence source "in order to report on any interaction and attempts at negotiations between Iranian officials and US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad".