Iran claims to arrest 10 Mossad agents for burning security officials’ cars, homes

Iranian authorities have arrested 10 agents working for Israel in the province of West Azerbaijan, Iranian media reported on Monday.

The semi-official Fars news agency reported that the individuals carried out operations against Iranian security officials and were in contact with the Mossad intelligence agency.

“They set fire to cars and homes of people affiliated with the security apparatus and received cash for taking photos which they sent to Mossad agents,” the report said.

Iran occasionally announces the detention of people it says are spying for foreign countries, including the United States and Israel, without providing evidence to back up such claims.

Iranian leaders have also recently claimed that popular unrest across the country against the regime’s opression of women is being orchestrated by Israel and the US.

Two weeks ago, Iran claimed to have apprehended a “Zionist spy” disguised as a businessman in the southern Kerman Province.

Ilustrative: Demonstrators burn representations of the Israeli flag during pro-Palestinians demonstrations in Tehran, Iran, May 19, 2021. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Prosecutors alleged that the spy had planned to “undermine security” in Kerman before being caught by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The suspect had also planned to meet an Israeli agent in a nearby country to be given a new mission, he claimed.

In July, Iranian media reported that an alleged Israeli spy network made up of five individuals had been arrested in Iran, the second such group detention announced within a week.

Israel is thought to have been behind a number of attacks in Iran in recent years, including sabotage against nuclear facilities and the killing of the former head of the country’s nuclear program. Jerusalem has never claimed responsibility for the incidents, but reports have pointed to its involvement.