UNITED NATIONS Iranian security guards expelled from U.S.

Iran's U.N. mission said the guards only shot video of tourist attractions.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
WASHINGTON -- Two Iranian security guards have been booted from the United States after the FBI watched them suspiciously videotaping New York City landmarks last month.
U.S. officials said Tuesday that the guards from Iran's mission to the United Nations were kicked out of the country on Saturday after their actions "raised concerns" about surveillance of "sensitive" city sites.
"These individuals were moving around New York City and essentially surveilling, taking photographs of a variety of New York landmarks and infrastructure," Stuart Holliday, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters. "This is something which obviously isn't part of protecting their mission here in New York."
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the FBI observed the duo shooting video and it "represented a unique pattern which raised concerns of law enforcement."
Others expelled
It was the third time in two years that Iranian security men were expelled from the United States for similar activities, Ereli said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in November that Iranian agents under diplomatic cover had been caught "four or five" times as they "engaged in reconnaissance of the subway" and other landmarks.
Police spokesman Paul Browne said the men were arrested at 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 after police caught them videotaping the No. 7 train line where it heads into the tunnel under the East River from Queens.
U.S. officials had little information about the latest surveillance.
Iran's U.N. mission denied the men were up to no good, saying in a statement that they only took pictures "of obvious and popular tourist attractions in New York City ... such as the Central Park, museums, parades and the like."
Spies?
Government sources said the FBI may fear the Iranians are spies peddling surveillance imagery to terror groups.
"You have a commodity worth money on the open market," said one counterintelligence source. "Whether you're going to sell it to the highest bidder or give it to someone who's going to do your bidding, it's valuable information."
The State Department recently said Iran was "the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2003" for funding anti-Israeli terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran also has given safe haven to senior Al-Qaida leaders who escaped Afghanistan in 2001, officials say.