For three years, Iranian intelligence had been running a spy network inside the Pentagon. 12 civilian analysts, contractors, and support personnel had been recruited by the IRGC to steal America’s most sensitive military secrets. Strike plans against Iranian nuclear facilities. Target packages. Timing windows. Defensive vulnerabilities.

Everything Tehran needed to prepare for war. The FBI discovered the network through a database anomaly — an analyst accessing documents far outside his job requirements. Investigation revealed the full scope: 12 compromised insiders, an IRGC handler network operating under commercial cover, and years of classified intelligence flowing to Tehran. Then surveillance intercepted something worse: Iran was using the stolen intelligence to plan a preemptive attack on American bases across the Middle East. Thousands of service members were targeted. The attack was 8 days away.

Operation PERSIAN BETRAYAL launched simultaneously — 12 arrests at dawn, military force repositioning, diplomatic back-channels, and the rollup of Iranian intelligence officers on American soil. The attack was prevented. The network was destroyed. Thousands of American lives were saved. All scenarios on FBI Focus are for educational and illustrative purposes only. They are intended to inform, spark critical thinking, and provide a deeper perspective on federal tactics, national security, and investigative operations.