The FBI has been rocked by one of the gravest espionage scandals in its history after a Regional Director was arrested on charges of secretly working as an ᴀsset for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a case that prosecutors say left 14 US intelligence sources “burned” and a six‑year mole hunt in shambles.

The veteran official, who oversaw counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations across multiple states, was taken into custody in a pre‑dawn raid at his suburban home as stunned neighbours watched agents in tactical gear seize phones, safes and encrypted laptops. A 120‑page indictment alleges he fed IRGC handlers classified briefings, source idenтιтies and internal FBI targeting lists in exchange for offshore payments and promises of post‑retirement protection.

According to court filings, at least 14 human sources in or near Iran and the wider Middle East were compromised after their codenames and operational details appeared in encrypted chats recovered from the director’s devices. Some went dark overnight; others were later arrested or disappeared, prompting an emergency shutdown of entire networks and a catastrophic “blind spot” in US visibility on IRGC activities.

Even more damning, investigators say the director actively steered internal probes away from himself for nearly six years, sabotaging leak investigations, misdirecting suspicion toward junior agents and quietly killing off leads that came too close.

The Justice Department has launched an urgent review of every case and operation the accused touched, while current and former agents describe a sense of betrayal “deeper than anything since the Cold War.” For America’s intelligence community, one question now looms over every secure room: if an IRGC ᴀsset can climb this high and hide this long, who else is still inside?