Iranian authorities said, on Monday, that security agencies had arrested 17 suspects allegedly recruited by the CIA to spy on the country’s nuclear and military sites, among other sensitive facilities.
An Iranian intelligence official quoted by the state media told a press conference on Monday that some of the purported spies have already been sentenced to death, without specifying any numbers.
“Those who deliberately betrayed the country were handed to the judiciary… some were sentenced to death and some to long-term imprisonment,” the head of counter-intelligence at the Iranian intelligence ministry, whose identity was not revealed, told reporters, in the capital, Tehran.
The announcement comes as Iran-United States tensions soar in the Gulf after Washington withdrew unilaterally from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and imposed once again economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Tehran, said authorities claim that the spying activities of people arrested have been documented.
“They released a DVD video and put together a documentary, which aired on state TV. The ministry says the documentary shows to which extent these people went to try and exchange information with their CIA operatives outside the country,” she said.
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“The authorities said that this has been the largest uncovering of a network of spies inside the country for many years,” Jabbari also said.
“The government believes it is a huge victory for them as they put an end to these activities for now.”
The documentary aired on Monday purported to show a CIA officer recruiting an Iranian man in the United Arab Emirates.
“Because there are so many intelligence officers in Dubai. It is very dangerous… Iranian intelligence,” a woman was shown telling an Iranian in the documentary.
The Iranian intelligence official also said at the press conference that some of those arrested worked in sensitive parts of the state such as nuclear, economic, cyber and military bodies, claiming that none had succeeded in their sabotage missions.
Some of them had reportedly been recruited by falling into a “visa trap” set by the CIA for Iranians seeking to travel to the US.
“Some were approached when they were applying for a visa, while others had visas from before and were pressured by the CIA in order to renew them,” said the official.
State-run IRNA news agency said Iran had carried out the operation in cooperation with “foreign allies,” without naming any state.
IRNA also said that the CIA approached Iranian citizens by hiring them through fake companies or while supplying equipment for the firms in question.
The agency also alleged that CIA officers under diplomatic titles approach Iranian citizens on the sidelines of scientific conferences in European, African and Asian countries.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have soared in recent weeks, with US President Donald Trump calling off air raids against Iran at the last minute in June after Iranian forces downed a US drone, and blaming Iran for a series of tanker attacks.
The latest incidents also came as Trump and US officials insisted on Thursday, despite denials from Tehran, that the US military had downed an Iranian drone that was threatening a US naval vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington has also announced it will send more than 500 US troops to Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s archrival, as well as aircraft and air defence missiles. The deployment will be the first to Saudi since the US’s withdrawal from the kingdom in 2003.
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Tehran, says that the spying activities of people arrested have been documented.
“They released a DVD video and put together a documentary, which aired on state TV. The ministry says the documentary says to which extent these people went to try and exchange information with their CIA operatives outside the country,” she said.
“The authorities said that this has been the largest uncovering of a network of spies inside the country for many years,” Jabbari also said.
“The government believes it is a huge victory for them as they put an end to these activities for now.” (Aljazeera)
