FROM THE ESPIONAGE BUSINESS - AT 8:20 A.M. ET:    From ABC News:

The president of a non-profit organization that the U.S. government has long suspected of being a front for Iranian espionage and anti-American activities has been indicted on charges that he allegedly destroyed documents just one day after receiving a grand jury subpoena instructing him not to do so.

Farshid Jahedi, president of the Alavi Foundation, which is headquartered in Manhattan, will be arraigned on Friday on charges of obstruction of justice.

The Alavi Foundation has been described by a former CIA official as "totally controlled by the government of Iran," according to court documents related to the New York Police Department's investigation.

COMMENT:  Notice that the investigation is being conducted by the NYPD.  Under the great Commissioner Ray Kelly, the New York Police Department has created a superb anti-espionage capability.  And just a few days ago, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau testified before Congress on the danger of Iranian activities.  Not everything that comes out of New York these days is bad, just most of it.

We have said before, and we will say again, that the danger of Iran, especially as it acquires nukes, is greatly underestimated in Washington.  Our government still does not understand the nature of theocratic regimes.  They are not normal.  They are more like the Japanese kamikaze of World War II.  What they say, they often mean.  And what the Iranian government says is generally chilling. 

Will we get the message in time?

May 8, 2009