The way the Soviets infiltrated was this. They sent over a recruiter/controller. The recruiter would meet with and chat up potential candidates. With the Soviets it was a lengthy process. They’d find someone with access. They’d establish his vulnerabilities, money problems, homosexuality, drugs, etc. They’d use whatever was required to slowly bring him in. Can you supply us with the internal phone list? Can you tell me who the subcontractors are? That sort of things. Once this guy is hooked, perhaps by drugs, or a femme fatale, or just money, he’d be handed off to a controller. The controller tells him what to do. I’m sure it will be something like this as the Soviets trained the Iranians.
Hilarious story. I was cleared top secret on the most important program my company had. One night I decided to go bar hopping and see if I could take someone home. It was a huge, crowded room. I kept bumping into this entertaining, good looking blond fellow. We chatted numerous times. He had a California “dude” accent. Two days later the program manager called me to an emergency meeting. I came in and everyone was looking at me. “I’m sorry I’m late. I had no idea there a meeting.” There were three FBI agents, and they started the projector. “This is Vladimir What’shisname.” There were photos of him getting off a plane and into cabs. Then there were photos of him in a bar. I wondered who the geek was he was chatting up...Oh, CRAP! It was twenty years before I ever went to another bar.
These are Muslim terrorist we had coming in, not Soviet spies wanting to steal classified documents.