TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran’s Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alawi has touched on recent attempts by the enemies to infiltrate the country, saying his ministry smashed a network working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In recent years, Iran has witnessed the enemy approaching "insiders” and trying to recruit, Alawi told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Saturday night.
"We detected spies in places whose officials were surprised,” he added.
The Intelligence Ministry, with the help of the armed forces, was able to smash a CIA spy network and virtually "blind” the U.S. agency, the minister went on to say.
Back in July, the director of the intelligence ministry’s counterespionage department said that a CIA spy ring was busted on June 18 and 17 agents were arrested.
Those arrested had been employed in sensitive centers or worked in private companies related to these centers.
The agents had no links to one another and each of them was separately linked to a CIA officer, according to the official.
He said some of them were lured into working for the American spy agency by promises of U.S. visas.
According to the official, sophisticated technical equipment had been given to the individuals for collecting classified information after they had received special training from CIA officers.
The intelligence agencies of some Asian and European countries had been collaborating with the CIA in these espionage activities, he said.
The agents have been handed over to the judiciary. Some of them have been sentenced to death while others have received lengthy jail terms.