The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released the photo and personal details of Seyed Yahya Hosseiny Panjaki, also known as Seyed Yahya Hamidi, the deputy minister of intelligence for internal security in Iran’s regime. The FBI has placed him on its wanted list and is seeking information about him.
In the FBI notice published on Monday, May 26, Seyed Yahya Hosseiny is identified as being born on January 23, 1975, and as the deputy minister of intelligence in charge of Israel-related affairs.
FBI stated:“Seyed Yahya is wanted for questioning in connection with alleged worldwide lethal plots and terror activity using intelligence networks, operational networks, and cyber capabilities, including via cooperation between the MOIS and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”
Seyed Yahya Hosseiny is the chief architect of operations by the Ministry of Intelligence to assassinate opponents of Iran’s regime abroad.
The regime’s Ministry of Intelligence, alongside the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, has for years carried out the regime’s most important acts of sabotage abroad.
The notice adds that:“The Directorate for Internal Security is responsible for operating the Naji Sharifi Zindashti criminal network and their associates as they targeted United States-based Iranian dissidents from at least December 2020, until or around March of 2021.”
FBI continued:“Seyed Yahya is the superior of Iranian Intelligence Officer Reza Hamidi Ravari, who is also wanted for questioning.”
He holds a PhD in political science from Azad University of Tabriz and has published two academic articles—one titled “The Role of Rumors and Hybrid Threats in the Security Environment,” published in the Ministry of Defense’s National Security quarterly, and another titled “Takfiri Terrorism in Cyberspace and Strategies to Counter It,” published in the Strategic Cyber Space Studies quarterly of Iran’s Supreme National Defense University.
Hosseiny Panjaki has been sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom for his involvement in a 2018 bombing plot in Paris. The target was the annual gathering of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the largest opposition coalition to Iran’s regime. The plan was foiled by law enforcement before it could be carried out.
Within the Ministry of Intelligence, he founded the “Martyr Soleimani Headquarters,” which carries out sabotage operations around the world in cooperation with Iran’s intelligence agencies and with the assistance of IRGC forces.
The name of this headquarters refers to the Iranian regime’s plan to avenge the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force.
Yahya Hosseiny has very close ties with the IRGC and has traveled multiple times to Syria and Lebanon, collaborating with Hezbollah and the Quds Force through intelligence sharing between the Ministry of Intelligence, the IRGC, and their operational teams.
In addition to serving as deputy for internal security, Yahya Hosseiny is also in charge of the Israel desk at the Ministry of Intelligence.
The leader of Iran’s regime has prioritized offensive operations against Israel, and as a result, more financial and human resources have been allocated to this section.
Before Yahya Hosseiny, Saeed Hashemi Moqaddam held the position of deputy for internal security at the Ministry of Intelligence.
Hashemi Moqaddam, 62 years old and one of the older directors of the Ministry of Intelligence, was also sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom after the Paris bombing plot was exposed. Although the internal security deputy position remains on the EU sanctions list, Yahya Hosseiny’s name has not yet been added to that list.
