'Dutchman sabotaged nuclear complex in Iran, The Hague knew nothing'
In 2007, a Dutchman released the infamous Stuxnet virus in an Iranian nuclear complex, writes de Volkskrant. According to the newspaper, Erik van Sabben, who was recruited by the AIVD, played a crucial role in the sabotage action that paralyzed the Iranian nuclear program. Politics would not have been informed about the operation led by the US and Israel. MPs demand clarification.
The then 36-year-old Van Sabben infiltrated the underground nuclear complex in the city of Natanz, the newspaper said. There he installed equipment infected with the highly sophisticated software, which reportedly cost more than a billion dollars to develop.
'High price'
The Vlissingen native died in January 2009 in a motorcycle accident near his hometown of Dubai. In his obituary in the PZC, relatives speak of a fatal accident. Nothing points to possible intent, de Volkskrant concludes after conversations with people who were at the scene of the crash. But an anonymous MIVD officer quoted suspects that Van Sabben "paid a high price".
The newspaper spent two years investigating the sabotage campaign. Dozens of people involved were spoken to, including nineteen employees of the AIVD and MIVD. A few years ago, de Volkskrant revealed that the Dutch intelligence services had recruited the infiltrator in this sabotage operation. But at the time it was believed to have been an Iranian engineer.
Also new is the insight that apparently no one in the Netherlands knew that a new type of cyber weapon was being deployed. According to the researchers, the intelligence services knew that they were participating in sabotage of the Iranian nuclear program, but not that their agent was bringing in Stuxnet. “The Americans have used us very hard,” says an intelligence source.
Centrifuges broken
It is striking that the Balkenende IV cabinet does not appear to have been informed at all. According to the newspaper, the so-called Stiekem committee, in which faction leaders of the largest parties are informed about actions by the AIVD and MIVD, also knew nothing about Dutch participation in the very risky operation. Some experts consider the sabotage action in Iran an act of war.
Stuxnet caused a large number of nuclear centrifuges to break down. The nuclear program was estimated to have been delayed by several years. The program also reached the outside world and infected computers worldwide. For example, major concerns arose about possible damage at a factory for low-enriched uranium in Almelo, the newspaper writes.
Despite all these consequences and risks, no one in The Hague was informed in advance, the investigative journalists say. "The services think they can do their divine thing," a political source is quoted as saying. A number of MPs want the bottom stone to be uncovered in the affair.
The intelligence services tell the newspaper that they cannot comment substantively on the publication. Then Prime Minister Balkenende also invokes confidentiality. An anonymous executive at the AIVD says that it was customary to "sweep the Prime Minister's doorstep clean". Balkenende may have deliberately not been informed of the operation because of the potential political consequences.
Van Sabben is said to have been recruited by the AIVD in 2005. Due to his technical background, many contacts in the region and link with Iran, he was seen as the ideal candidate for the mission. "He already did business in Iran and had an Iranian wife with family there," says Volkskrant journalist Huib Modderkolk.
The supposed secret agent is described as someone who was not afraid to take risks. Van Sabben had already lived in the Middle East for years. "He had a passion for off-road riding, camping and motorcycling," wrote the United Arab Emirates newspaper The National after Van Sabben's death. The article praised him as an engineer who had made an important contribution to the rapid development of the Gulf state. "He traveled a lot for his work: Sudan, Yemen, Iran and East Africa.
During one of those trips to Iran, he is said to have released Stuxnet into the Natanz nuclear complex. The program was probably in a water pump that Van Sabben installed there. It is unclear whether the Dutchman himself knew what role he played in the operation, the newspaper writes.