The France-based defense attorney of an Iranian dissident abducted by Islamic Republic security forces last year and taken back to Iran has said that it is possible Revolutionary Guards have infiltrated Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s office in Iraq.

Ruhollah Zam who was an anti-regime publicist before his abduction, traveled from France to Iraq a year ago apparently by the encouragement of someone in Sistani’s office and was abducted and taken across the border to Iran. He has been tried behind closed doors and sentenced to death.

His lawyer Hassan Fereshtian told Radio Zamaneh, a Persian-language radio station in Holland that in some form or shape it is possible that IRGC elements have infiltrated Sistani’s office, adding, “There is some evidence confirming” this possibility.

Fereshtian said he does not know the name of the individual who contacted Zam and invited him to Iraq.

The Islamic Republic is known for having a substantial network of operatives in neighboring countries and in Europe, where many opponents have been assassinated since the 1980s.

Zam’s attorney also indicated that his client told him about his impending trip to Iraq and mentioned that he might launch a new Persian-language television station with the assistance of Sistani. Other people close to Zam have said that contacting Zam on behalf of the respected senior cleric in Iraq was an elaborate trap to lure him into the country where it was easy for Iranian agents to abduct him and take him to Iran.