Friday 25 November 2011

Iran lawmaker says 12 CIA agents arrested

Alakhbar

Published Thursday, November 24, 2011
An influential Iranian lawmaker claimed 12 CIA agents were arrested in the country, according to the country's official IRNA news agency.

Parviz Sorouri, who sits on the powerful committee of foreign policy and national security, alleged that the agents were operating in coordination with the Israeli Mossad, targeting Iran's military and nuclear facilities.

"The US and Zionist regime's espionage apparatuses were trying to damage Iran both from inside and outside with a heavy blow, using regional intelligence services," Sorouri was quoted as having said on Wednesday.

"Fortunately, with swift reaction by the Iranian intelligence department, the actions failed to bear fruit," Sorouri said.

The nationalities of the agents were not disclosed, nor the specific details in regards to their alleged arrest.

The announcement comes a day after Lebanon's Hezbollah, an Iranian ally, claimed it "vanquished" US and Israeli intelligence cells in the country.

"Lebanese intelligence vanquished US and Israeli intelligence in what is now known as the intelligence war," Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said on Wednesday.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed in June that his organization uncovered a CIA spy ring that had infiltrated its ranks.

While the US embassy in Beirut officially denied the claims, American officials conceded that its operations in Lebanon had taken a hit.

The US and Israel suspect Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, an accusation Tehran denies.
Israel is the only state known to possess a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, although the Jewish state has neither denied or confirmed its existence.
(al-Akhbar, AP)

Congressman Mike Rogers arrives in Beirut to probe exposure of intel squad while Iran arrests 12 CIA agents
"...The Iranian official's comments come after current and former U.S. officials said on Monday that dozens of spies working for the CIA were captured recently in Lebanon and Iran, as well as after Iran's claim earlier this year that it had intercepted a major spy ring.



Following the report of a compromised CIA ring in Lebanon, the French intelligence newsletter Intelligence Online indicated in its latest issue that U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, arrived recently in Beirut to probe the affair.
According to Intelligence Online, all CIA officers operating the Beirut station were transferred to Cyprus for security reasons and for further investigations. ..."


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