Iran Arrests ‘Israeli Spy’, Others With Foreign Links

Iran has captured an Israeli spy and several other people who were in contact with foreign intelligence services. The state-controlled news agency reported on Monday without providing the nationality of the detained individuals.

“Israeli spy has been arrested in the province of East Azerbaijan in Iran … also the other spies who remained in contact with the intelligence services of several foreign countries have been arrested,” said an Intelligence Ministry official. Israeli officials did not immediately comment on the report.

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The Islamic Republic does not recognize Israel and accuses the Israeli state of being behind sabotage actions and the murder of a nuclear scientist. An Iranian citizen who was punished for spying for American and Israeli intelligence was executed by 2020.

Iran blamed Israel for last year’s murder of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which Western intelligence services saw as the mastermind of the covert Iranian nuclear weapons program. However, Tehran categorically denied trying to build a nuclear arsenal. Israel did not confirm or denied responsibility for the murder.

As Iran notices the daylight emerging between the US and its allies, it has been making moves across the region. In Iraq, a series of rocket attacks in February attacked the US Embassy and the Iraqi bases that were housing American troops. Earlier this month, Houthi rebels supported by Iran in Yemen said they attacked Saudi oil facilities in the port city of Jeddah.

Iran has also projected trust around its nuclear program. Only recently, Iran’s highest leader reiterated “the exact policy” of the Islamic Republic that Washington has to lift crippling economic sanctions before Tehran returned to its commitment under the 2015 nuclear agreement. Tehran continues to violate the agreement’s restrictions, including the amount of enriched uranium and purity that it can enrich.