Did This Israeli Spy Sleep with 120 Iranian Officials?
WANA (Jul 13) – Few could have imagined that Catherine Shakdam, who had a relatively long history of producing anti-Zionist content, would herself be a Zionist spy. Years ago, Shakdam travelled to Iran as a newly converted British Muslim woman of Shia faith. In total, she stayed in Iran for only 18 days across five trips. During that time, she managed to speak with several Iranian officials and various figures and participate in many sessions and seminars.
In December 2021, Catherine Shakdam wrote in an op-ed in the Times of Israel that she was “no longer a Muslim” and that her true intention all along had been “to infiltrate Iran and other Islamic countries.” The news shocked many in Iran, and the “reformist” media—aligned with Western tendencies—began a blame game to take revenge on their political rivals, the conservatives.
The media referred to her using terms such as “infiltration into sensitive centers,” “Mossad spy,” and “infiltration project.” However, at the time, independent security experts and some official media outlets warned that these claims lacked any judicial or security documentation.
Who Is Catherine Shakdam and Why Did She Come to Iran?
Catherine Perez Shakdam is a political analyst and journalist with British citizenship and French-Jewish roots. She studied psychology, finance, and communications at universities in the UK, served as a UN advisor on Yemen, and was briefly married to a Yemeni man.
At one point, claiming to be inclined toward Islam, she entered Iran and wrote articles with an anti-Zionist tone and in defense of the policies of the Axis of Resistance.
However, in an op-ed published in the Jerusalem Post, she suddenly took a radically different stance and harshly criticized the Islamic Republic. She claims that this change in approach was not evidence of espionage, but simply the result of a change in belief shaped by her interactions with people in Iran and her observations.
She now resides in the UK, but the Jerusalem Post has allocated her a dedicated blog section where she regularly publishes her notes and articles. One of her latest pieces defends Jewish history and discusses what she calls “the truth of October 7.”
What Was the Mossad Spy Looking for in Iran?
Shakdam also claims that she traveled to Iran on a French passport and that Iranian officials were aware of her Jewish background. Regarding this matter, in interviews with Voice of America and BBC Persian, she claimed: “Iranian officials knew I was of Jewish descent, but because of my Muslim husband and the nature of my work, no one suspected me.”
This Mossad agent claims that Iranians “saw me as a propaganda tool for their goals. I just wanted to understand and get to know Iranians—whether their mindset matched that of the government or not. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity, but my goal wasn’t espionage.” These remarks were made while, in another interview shortly thereafter, she claimed that she had always hidden her Jewish ethnicity in Iran out of fear for her life.
In April 2022, on BBC Persian (a media outlet launched by British intelligence to oppose the Islamic Republic and support regime opponents in Tehran), she again emphasized that she is not a spy but considers espionage for Israel to be a great honour.
The claim of her being a “spy,” however, was controversial from the outset and served more as a political tool than a substantiated allegation. Opponents of the conservative movement and revolutionary cultural institutions referred to this narrative as an “infiltration project” to strike at their rivals.
In contrast, the rival political camp insisted that the story lacked sufficient evidence and was being inflated in the media space solely to discredit certain individuals. In practice, the “Shakdam = Spy” narrative turned into a tool for political and media vengeance—a means of attacking political rivals. No security documents regarding this case have ever been released.
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Allegation of “Immoral Relations” and Use of Sex for Espionage
One of the most extreme and sensational claims was the accusation that Shakdam used sex to infiltrate. Official authorities never confirmed this claim, and even Shakdam herself has explicitly denied it.
In an atmosphere where the dust of the 12-day Iran-Israel war has yet to settle and Iran’s political scene remains tense, Mostafa Kavakebian—university professor, former member of parliament, and a figure known even among fellow reformists for behavioral inconsistency and emotional analyses—appeared on Iran’s national TV and repeated those old, denied claims with even greater exaggeration.
In this live broadcast interview, Kavakebian claimed that during her 18-day stay in Iran, Catherine Shakdam had sexual relations with “120 Iranian officials” as part of her espionage activities. The claim, which came with no supporting documentation, appeared so far-fetched that even top reformist figures refused to endorse it.
This statement immediately prompted an official response: The public relations office of Iran’s national TV expressed regret over the broadcast of these remarks, and Tehran’s prosecutor’s office filed charges against Kavakebian for “disturbing public opinion,” summoning him to provide evidence—a document that was never produced.
Iran’s security and judicial bodies have explicitly stated that no documents or reports exist indicating immoral behaviour, suspicious connections, or illegal activities by Shakdam during her time in Iran.
Catherine Shakdam has also repeatedly denied these accusations. In the same year, she revealed her Mossad affiliation when a BBC Persian reporter asked her, “Did anyone in Iran ask you for a certain kind of (sexual) relationship?” She replied: “No, never! I saw those fabricated stories too. They want to attack my character, and by doing so, they discredit their own officials.”
She also addressed the claim of accessing Iranian documents, saying: “Contrary to what’s being said, I never had access to any documents in Iran. What I wrote at the end of my Times of Israel article—that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons—was merely my personal interpretation. I had no document for it and spoke to no one about it.”
Catherine Shakdam is a British analyst and journalist. Social Media / WANA News Agency
Why Has the Catherine Shakdam Case Re-Emerged?
The topic came up during a televised debate on the activities of spies during the 12-day Iran-Israel war and the extent to which Afghan immigrants were involved. In this debate, university professor Mostafa Kavakebian claimed that accusing Afghan citizens of playing a significant role in espionage for Israel was misleading, and he cited Catherine Shakdam to argue that misplaced trust in individuals and “sexual indulgences” of Iranian officials were the real causes of infiltration.
The lack of Iranian public support for Israel’s attack—even among those critical of the ruling system and governance quality in Iran—and the refusal to participate in street unrest, went against the expectations of pro-Western reformists inside the country. This political faction, observing increased public alignment with anti-Western views and greater closeness between the masses and the conservative political vision during this period, saw no better strategy than “discrediting their political rival.”
Perhaps the “Mossad spy” story in Iran is not a bad place to start attacking a rival. Still, it must not be forgotten that the biggest beneficiaries of any internal division in Iran are those sitting in Tel Aviv.
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