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Iran’s intelligence ministry announced Saturday the arrest of agents linked to Israel’s Mossad who entered the Islamic republic to carry out attacks against “sensitive” sites, state news agency IRNA reported. world news
The suspects entered Iran from northern Iraq but were arrested before they could carry out their mission, IRNA said, citing a statement from the ministry.
“The members of the terrorist organisation work for the Zionist spy agency Mossad who were sent to (Iran) to carry out terrorist operation… against sensitive sites,” IRNA reported.
The statement did not say how many suspects were arrested or give their nationalities, nor did it identify the targets of the purported plots.
“The members of the network were in contact with Mossad through one of Iran’s neighbouring countries… and intended on carrying unprecedented terrorist activities in some sensitive locations and pre-determined targets,” it said.
The suspects entered Iran from Iraq’s Kurdistan region at an unspecified date and “modern communication equipment” and “explosive devices” were seized during their arrests, the statement added.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a years-long shadow war, with the Islamic republic accusing its arch-foe of carrying out sabotage attacks against its nuclear sites and assassinations of key figures, including scientists.
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But tensions have ratcheted up following a string of high-profile incidents that Tehran has blamed on Israel.
The Islamic republic has pointed at Israel for the killing of Revolutionary Guards Colonel Sayyad Khodai at his Tehran home on May 22.
Two other senior Guard members have also died — one in a reported accident and the other in a shooting — earlier this year.
In April, Iran said it arrested three people linked to Mossad and a month earlier claimed it had foiled an attack on a nuclear plant also planned by suspects linked to Israel.
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Notes from APS Radio News
During the past few decades, Iran has maintained that its nuclear program was designed and intended to be used for civilian and non-military purposes, as in generating electric power and for use in treating particular types of cancer.
Over the years, representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency of the UN have conducted inspections of Iran’s nuclear-related sites.
Representatives and those of Iran’s government have asserted that Iran has enriched uranium to levels not greater than 10 or 12% of fissile purity.
Physicists say that uranium would have to be enriched to 95 or 98% fissile purity, in order to produce material for weapons.
In 2010, Iran discovered a “malicious worm”, called Stuxnet, that infected computer software that had been used to regulate and control the speed of its centrifuges.
Centrifuges have been used to enrich uranium to particular levels.
As a result of the worm, Iran’s centrifuges rotated chaotically, interfering with the process of enrichment.
In the aftermath of the infection, Iran blamed Israel and the US.
Since 2010, a number of Iran’s scientists were assassinated.
Concerning assassinations, Iran has blamed the US and Israel for those events.
During the past 40 years, it’s been reported that Israel has maintained several hundred nuclear weapons.
Israel is one of the few countries that is not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; Iran is one of the world’s signatories.
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