SAEDNEWS: Renewed scrutiny surrounds British‑French analyst Catherine Perez‑Shakdam, accused by Kayhan newspaper of infiltrating Iran’s sensitive institutions on behalf of Israeli intelligence.
According to Saed News, in the wake of the 12‑day Gaza conflict and intensifying debate over foreign influence, Kayhan newspaper revived allegations that Catherine Perez‑Shakdam—who entered Iran in the mid‑2010s under the guise of a devout Muslim journalist—penetrated key political and media circles with covert Israeli backing. Born into a secular Jewish family in France and educated in psychology, finance, and communications in the UK, Perez‑Shakdam also served as a United Nations consultant on Yemen and married a Yemeni national before relocating to Tehran.
During her tenure in Iran between 2014 and 2018, she published commentary—often framed as anti‑Zionist—in hard‑line news outlets, secured a purportedly exclusive interview with then‑judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, and featured at events such as the “Horizon of the New” conference alongside figures like Nader Talebzadeh. According to state reports, her articles were channeled through media activists rather than formal institutional partnerships, allowing her to blend seamlessly into Iran’s information ecosystem.
After Perez‑Shakdam’s bylines began appearing in the Times of Israel and other international platforms, security services reportedly opened inquiries but never issued public findings. In a subsequent BBC Persian interview, she vehemently denied any espionage activity, insisting her analyses were drawn solely from open‑source data. Nonetheless, Iranian agencies have since purged her work from their archives, and outlets such as Tasnim have publicly disavowed any formal collaboration. The episode has reignited questions about Iran’s vetting processes and the broader vulnerabilities of its tightly controlled media landscape.
