Iran said on Monday it had exposed a large cyberespionage network it alleged was run by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and that several US spies had been arrested in different countries as the result of this action.
US-Iran tensions are growing following accusations by US President Donald Trump's administration that last Thursday Tehran attacked two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, a vital oil shipping route. Iran denies having any role.
The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said on Monday: "One of the most complicated CIA cyberespionage networks that had an important role in the CIA's operations in different countries was exposed by the Iranian intelligence agencies a while ago and was dismantled."
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"We shared the information about the exposed network with our allies that led to the identification and arrest of CIA intelligence agents," Shamkhani was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster IRIB.
He did not specify how many CIA agents were arrested and in what countries.
Shamkhani said that some information about the case had been released by the United States, so Iran could now publish the information for the sake of public awareness.
Meanwhile, opposition sources outside Iran said that senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps was recently arrested by the regime because he allegedly helped the Israeli Mossad raid the country's nuclear archive about a year ago, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs reported on Monday.
Last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a major speech in which he revealed the details of the Israeli covert mission, showcasing the documents shedding light on Iran's illicit nuclear program some 15 years ago and the continued clandestine program to maintain its nuclear know-how and material.
