IRAN: Intelligence Ministry claims to arrest 30 alleged CIA spies
Iran claimed a major intelligence victory over the United States on Saturday, saying it uncovered and dismantled what it called a "complex espionage and sabotage network" and arrested 30 people allegedly spying for the CIA.
It claimed that it also arrested 42 others in connection to the alleged spy network, the website of Iran's state-owned Press TV website reported.
According to a statement by the Intelligence Ministry published on the website of the semi-official Mehr news agency (link in Persian), the network was run by CIA agents via U.S. embassies in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Malaysia.
"Due to the massive intelligence and counterintelligence work by Iranian intelligence agents, a complex espionage and sabotage network linked to America's spy organization was uncovered and dismantled," said a statement from the Intelligence Ministry read on state TV.
There was no immediate response by U.S. officials.
In the Iranian regime's shadowy worldview, foreign "agents" and "spies" are constantly working to undermine the country's goals. But the detailed nature of Saturday's announcement was unusual.
Iran claimed the arrests were conducted by an elite squad belonging to the Iranian Intelligence Ministry in various sting operations, according to the statement. The nationalities of those arrested were not immediately clear, nor when the arrests were made.
"Elite agents of the Intelligence Ministry in their confrontation with the CIA elements were able to arrest 30 America-linked spies through numerous intelligence and counterintelligence operations," the statement said.
Mehr cited the Intelligence Ministry as saying the spy network was active simultaneously in several undisclosed countries and under the cover of labor recruitment agencies. "The elites, educated and naive people were recruited to get visas, residency permits, education abroad and employment," the agency quoted the Intelligence Ministry as saying.
"Thanks to the sincere endeavor of your children by collecting intelligence through infiltrating in the network and by penetrating in the network through double agents, we managed to disband the network and arrest the 30 spies in and outside of the country," the statement said.
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A drop in the bucket. I'm sure their are alot more spies where that came from.
Posted by: Desperate Amateurs | May 22, 2011 at 08:08 AM
Elite agents of the Intelligence Ministry? What a joke hahahahahaha!
Posted by: Chuck B | May 21, 2011 at 10:54 AM
Some commentators here talk as though Iran is a paranoid State with a fertile imagination...but of course it has every right to be paranoid!
There is no doubt that both the US and Israel (and no doubt, a few Arab States) are doing everything in their power to bring down the Iranian Government, and to deny it would be arguing that the CIA isn't doing it's job!
Undoubtedly there are many many US spies operating in Iran and in all probability, some of them have just got caught.
Posted by: Jacko | May 21, 2011 at 10:35 AM
Who cares?
Today is armageddon!
Woo-hoo!
Posted by: Trapper | May 21, 2011 at 09:45 AM
The US/CIA would never spy on oil-rich Iran. Those silly Iranians are so paranoid.
Posted by: Jorge2 | May 21, 2011 at 09:18 AM
Iranians need to pray for peace not let there leaders lead them into war.
There has been enough wars on earth no one wants to see any more.
All should look to bring out the Good in others not look to say there is Bad.
No one is without sin, on this Earth.
GOD Bless All that look for Peace and Help Others.
The Lord's Little Helper
Paul Felix Schott
Posted by: Paul Felix Schott | May 21, 2011 at 08:50 AM
WOW! ooohhhh I am sure there are spies in IRAN!!! This is not good. The CIA must be scrambling and building code names right now!!! LOL. Some heads will roll at the CIA as now they will need to figure out how to get them out!!! Good luck!!!!!
Posted by: Bob | May 21, 2011 at 08:46 AM
Iran should cut all of their heads off the little sneaky rat CIA scums.
Posted by: IceT | May 21, 2011 at 08:16 AM
Two Americans are still held kidnapped in Iran but Obama never says a word..
Posted by: jane | May 21, 2011 at 06:37 AM
So this is news?....practically everyone arrested in Iran is a "spy".
Posted by: mrbobj | May 21, 2011 at 05:50 AM
Paranoia will weaken even the strongest. Iran is a paranoid nation or at least the regime is. Paranoia makes for poor decision making – let’s hope they don’t get nukes. China, Russia and others that support the regime of Iran must behave more responsibly – you can’t control a rabid dog. Intelligence is only as good as the quality of the info – given the quality these days and of past – Iran has probably got it wrong for many of these poor souls. To many nations chase their tales (pun) in circles
Posted by: John | May 21, 2011 at 05:43 AM
So that's what happened to that group of hikers who got lost...
Posted by: deepwater805 | May 21, 2011 at 05:25 AM
I am glad I made it out of Iran in time.
Posted by: Andreas Moser | May 21, 2011 at 04:51 AM
Once in every few months the beleaguered and profoundly detested anti-human regime comes up with a startling "news!" This time they have supposedly arrested spies working for the US Intelligence service. Incredible!!! From now I say that this is a miserable lie by a miserable regime struggling to stay alive in the country and perhaps in the International arena. The USA has NOTHING to do with this mullah regime lies! This is perhaps the only existing regime in modern history (since the past fifty years)that has waged a war against the very same nation it is supposed to serve and protect. But why protect and serve the great Iranian Nation? They do NOT in any form or way. Simply because they (the majority of the ruling hierarchy) are the minority "seyeds;" left-over arabs of yore who claim decendency from Mohammad, the arab prophet. They dislike and even hate the Iranians while the great Iranian nation identifnched, humped, bow-legged, frizzy, buck-toothed semites of arab origin and vigorously hate them and swear revenge against them all. THEY ARE NOT IRANIANS!!! Iranians (eeh-ranians or ee-rahnians) are of Indo-European/Aryan stock (not the nonsense of Deutch people or those born under railway bridges or abandoned bus stops and prisons in the USA!!!) and the word "Iran" means "Land of the Aryans." The black turbaned ones are seyeds while the non clergy seyeds are difficult to identify but shockingly resemble Jews! The seyeds are NOT Iranians. They crept towards the Iranian Plateau (between 900 AD till a century ago)like fleas and flies, cockroaches and rodents and commenced life as beggars, thieves, pimps (for their own sisters) and later elavated themselves to the status of working on septic tanks and sewages and again promoted themselves to murder-for-hire and in the last fifty years as politicians!!!! Khomeini was one such political prostitute of foreign powers who was chosen to be the main rabble-rouser. He could hardly speak Persian (Indo-European parent language) but he managed to murder at least 200000 (TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND people; men, women and children!) and send more than a million people to their death in a war dictated by his foreign masters. A true political prostitute by all means!!! This pathetic and murderous regime must and SHOULD be eliminated. The only answer to the torments and sufferings of the Iranian nation is to return to a strictly people's choice of rule and a suggestion as the Monarch in the role of a Limited Constitutional Monarch (serving as a uniting symbol of the Medes and the Persians (the two most powerful Aryan people) which the country had enjoyed for more than 2600 years.
Posted by: Mehr | May 21, 2011 at 04:45 AM