Penetration or Media Self-Harm: The Story of a Woman Who Went from the Shrine to Tel Aviv
Penetration or Media Self-Harm: The Story of a Woman Who Went from the Shrine to Tel Aviv
Mostafa Kavakebian, former Iranian parliament member, with his claim about Catherine Perez-Shakdam, once again brought this Jewish French-British analyst to the forefront of Iranian media and social platforms.
Mr. Kavakebian, in a television roundtable about Israeli intelligence infiltration in Iran, claimed that this woman, during her trips to Iran, infiltrated the system through sexual relations with 120 prominent individuals in the structure of the Islamic Republic.
A day after these accusations, the judiciary news agency announced that Tehran’s prosecutor has filed charges against Kavakebian for baseless claims and disturbing public opinion.
In a conversation with BBC Persian in March 2022, Ms. Shakdam explicitly stated, ‘I am not a spy for any country; I was merely a political analyst.’
At the same time, in response to a question in BBC’s 60 Minutes program about whether Iranian officials asked her to establish personal relationships, she firmly said, ‘No, they have never made such requests.’
At that time, media and social network users spread rumors about Ms. Shakdam’s personal relationships with some Iranian officials.
A Secular Jew with a Yemeni Husband
Catherine Perez-Shakdam, of Jewish descent and holding French-British citizenship, visited Iran several times in the 2010s and wrote articles for media such as the Leader’s Office and the Revolutionary Guard’s site. She also interviewed Ebrahim Raisi, then a presidential candidate, in 2017.
She stated that her notes were published at the request of the Office for the Preservation and Publication of Ayatollah Khamenei’s Works.
However, after writing critical notes about the Islamic Republic government in the Times of Israel blog, her articles were removed from the Leader’s official website, leading to reactions.
Some domestic political groups called this espionage infiltration, while supporters of Ayatollah Khamenei rejected such claims and even questioned the existence of such a person in online discussions.
Background and Activities
The Times of Israel, which still publishes Shakdam’s works, introduced her as someone from a secular Jewish family in France, married to a Muslim man from Yemen, and gradually inclined towards Middle Eastern political analysis. She has collaborated with the Henry Jackson Society and advised the UN Security Council on Yemen. She is known as an expert on Iran, terrorism, and Islamic extremism, and was among those who urged the British government to list the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group.
About a year ago, she was appointed as the director of the ‘We Believe in Israel’ organization in the UK, a group composed of Jews and non-Jews aiming to strengthen media and political support for Israel.
Where It All Started
On February 25, 2022, the Telegram channel ‘Thaleth,’ affiliated with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s associates, published a picture of Shakdam and wrote that she was a columnist for the Leader’s and Revolutionary Guard’s sites and spoke of her infiltration in Iran in her note for the Times of Israel. This note was published on November 25, 2021, and highlighted a few months later.
Until then, Shakdam was not well-known in Persian media, although she had previously had interviews with Press TV, the English network of IRIB, and the program ‘Ofogh’ hosted by Nader Talebzadeh. After the discussion entered the media space, the Leader’s Office site wrote that her collaboration was merely the submission of notes from 2015 to 2017 through some activists and was discontinued afterward.
Reactions and Denials
Afterward, some individuals and media, including figures from the Revolutionary Guard, reacted to distance themselves from Shakdam. Apparently, about 18 notes from her existed in the Leader’s institution, all of which have been removed.
In an interview with the BBC, Shakdam said that her articles were sent to the Leader’s Office, not that she approached them directly, and claimed she received no payment for these writings. She said the notes were emailed and edited by the office.
After the controversies, the Leader’s site announced that they had no direct connection with her and wrote:
The writer only submitted materials through some media activists from 2015 to 2017 and had no connection thereafter, but with recent changes in stance and failure to adhere to professional standards, her materials have been removed.
Change in Approach and Hijab
She was seen in Iran wearing Islamic hijab, and photos of her presence in the Arbaeen march were published. She herself said she was compelled to observe the hijab and that this presence was also to examine the government’s behavior towards Israeli Jews. After ending her marital life with her Yemeni Muslim husband and separating from him, she abandoned the hijab.
Information About Her Travels
Shakdam said she was never a spy, held a French passport, and Iranian officials were aware of her Jewish origin but recruited her for propaganda purposes, saying:
‘I went because they wanted me, not because I had a plan to go to Iran.’
New Criticism and Recent Stances
In a note in the Times of Israel, she wrote that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb, although she emphasized that this is only her personal impression, not based on secret documents.
In a new article titled ‘Iran’s Kamikaze Doctrine’ at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, she wrote that the Islamic Republic bases its security on real martyrdom and heroism and is willing to destroy the country’s infrastructure in the event of a threat to attack and blame others.