Israel's Golan Heights in springtime. Photo: Tazpit News Agency.

Iran has been using signals-intelligence stations in the Golan Heights to spy on Israel since 2006, according to a report released last month by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO).

The report, titled “Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A Profile,” was prepared by the Library of Congress for the CTTSO and was released in Dec. 2012.

It says, “Two Iranian-Syrian SIGINT stations funded by the IRGC reportedly have been active since 2006, one in the al-Jazirah region in northern Syria and the other on the Golan Heights.”

Iran was reportedly planning to set up two additional signals intelligence stations in northern Syria, designed mainly to provide information on Israel to Hezbollah, the report says.

The report further notes that Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) provides Hezbollah with logistical and material support and uses Hezbollah as a proxy in its intelligence operations. Support for Hezbollah is usually delivered via Iranian diplomatic auspices.

MOIS also works together with the Iranian Foreign Ministry to conduct operations abroad, and relies on Iranian embassies for intelligence gathering.

Quoting an assessment on Iran’s intelligence services from the 1990s, the CTTSO report says, “The largest European Al-Qods [Quds] facility was in the Iranian Embassy in Germany. The embassy’s third floor had twenty Qods [Quds] employees coordinating terrorist activities in Europe … Recently, major operational centers were established in Bulgaria, and Al-Qods [Quds] has attempted to establish another operational facility in Milan.”