US Consulate in Dubai: key intelligence post

September 23, 5:58 PMCIA ExaminerStephen Lee

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(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Former AP correspondent Jim Krane notes in his new book, City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism, that the US Consulate in Dubai has proven so valuable to US intelligence that CIA lobbied to keep the facility open even when the State Department, which oversees worldwide consular activities, argued that the post should be closed as part of department-wide cutbacks.

Krane told Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times that US diplomats stationed in Dubai were the sources for the revelation, which shouldn't come as too big a surprise: Dubai is a major regional gateway for travel to and from Iran, where US intelligence is said to suffer a scarcity of human intelligence sources.

According to Krane, US consulate workers screened Iranians seeking US visas, keeping an eye out for individuals with connections to the Iranian government and military. Krane also told the Times that “Some of these Iranians are recruited as long-term spies.” The operation reportedly has been ongoing since US-Iran relations halted in 1979.