Dozens arrested in Iran on espionage charges

Iran’s intelligence authorities have arrested 30 people, including a foreign national, accused of spying and working with foreign adversaries, CNN reports, citing the state news agency IRNA.

The suspects were detained by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and described by officials as “spies, operational and media mercenaries” linked to what they called the “American and Zionist enemy,” according to IRNA.

Iranian officials said one of those detained was a foreign national, whose nationality was not disclosed, accused of spying for two Gulf states on behalf of the United States and Israel, IRNA said.

The suspect was arrested in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, where authorities alleged he had been collecting military and security information and passing it to the two Gulf countries, which then shared it with Washington and Israel, according to the outlet.

Officials alleged that another of those detained was linked to a militant group operating along Iran’s southeastern border, gathering intelligence on the positions and movements of military and security forces as well as on defense facilities, IRNA reported.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also said its intelligence unit arrested 10 people accused of collaborating with what it described as enemy forces by filming sensitive locations and sending the footage to foreign media outlets, according to Iranian official media.