LOS ANGELES, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Los Angeles has become a key location for US spy agencies' operation on Iran as their activities to gather information about the country's nuclear ambitions and possible links to terrorism are on the rise, a report said Sunday.

    A CIA station in this second biggest US city has spent a decade recruiting informants among Iranian expatriates and businessmen who travel to Iran, while the local FBI field office is wooing Iranians as sources -- and investigating others as potential terrorists or spies.

    This activity is growing in intensity as the Bush administration tries to learn more about Iran's nuclear ambitions and possible Iranian-sponsored terrorism in this country, according to the Los Angeles Times.

    Faced with the sudden prospect of relevance, Iranian exile activists are jockeying for recognition from US policymakers, touting contacts with the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA.

    Some Iranian exiles speculate that someone among them could emerge as the next Ahmad Chalabi, the Iraqi opposition leader who helped to spur the American invasion of Iraq with his now-discredited intelligence indicating that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed chemical and biological weapons.

    It is precisely the specter of Chalabi that makes many US officials cautious about appearing to endorse the Iranian exiles volunteering themselves now.

    Gary Sick, who served on the National Security Council under presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan and was the principal White House expert on Iran during the hostage crisis, said he was skeptical that Los Angeles exiles could provide valuable intelligence.

    "I just have very low regard for the quality of analysis and opinion coming out of the expatriate community in Los Angeles," said Sick, now a professor at Columbia University.

    However, a former CIA official said it is possible that the CIA will obtain valuable intelligence from its contacts in Los Angeles.

    "A lot of interesting Iranians travel outside of the country," he said. "A lot of Iranians come to the United States. There is a definite flow, and some of them may have information that is valuable." Enditem