Could ex-ISIL fighters be used against Iran, as a Russian official claimed?

Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, claimed late in May that the West is trying to use ex-fighters of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group against Iran.

“Western intelligence services don’t give up on their attempts to utilise militant terrorists from Syria as proxy forces in the war against Iran,” Aleksandr Bortnikov told a meeting of intelligence officials from eight ex-Soviet nations on May 26, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

In February, the United States began transporting thousands of imprisoned fighters linked to ISIL from detention centres in northeastern Syria to Iraq. The move followed the decision of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to join the anti-ISIL coalition and regain control of northeastern areas controlled by Kurdish-dominated forces that had detained up to 9,000 ISIL fighters, according to the US military.

Bortnikov did not specify which Western nation’s intelligence service is allegedly trying to “utilise” them and did not present any evidence, such as intercepted conversations or photos.

So has Russia’s intelligence tsar and President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally revealed a clandestine Western operation against Iran, or was his announcement an attempt to influence Moscow’s former vassals?

Bortnikov’s agency, better known by its Russian acronym, FSB, is the main successor to the Soviet KGB, where he served with Putin in the 1980s.

The FSB has a history of misinforming Putin, especially about developments in Ukraine, according to the White House, multiple leaks and media reports.

Gennady Gudkov, an ex-KGB officer and lawmaker-turned Putin critic, said Bortnikov’s claims reflect a lack of oversight over security agencies in today’s Russia.