Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has claimed that it has ‘identified and destroyed an integrated network of operatives serving the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) inside the country.’
The Ministry’s director-general for counterintelligence said on Monday that Iran captured 17 professional spies working on behalf of CIA throughout last year and some of those arrested had been handed death sentences, according to the Fars news agency.
According to PressTV, “The identified spies were employed in sensitive and vital private sector centers in the economic, nuclear, infrastructural, military and cyber areas… where they collected classified information,” the unnamed official said in a statement.
Iran announced in June that it had broken up an alleged CIA spy ring but it was unclear whether Monday’s announcement was linked to the same case.
The announcement comes after three months of spiralling confrontation between Iran and the West that began when new tighter U.S. sanctions took effect in May.
Last week, a British oil tanker was captured by the forces of International Revolutionart Guard Cops (IRGC) for allegedly violating international laws.
Recently, after Iran downed a US unmanned drone, the country’s parliamentary speaker had warned the United Statesagainst violating the country’s borders cautioning such a move would draw a “stronger” reaction.
