Iran 'arrests 17 CIA spies' and could execute some as tensions soar- world on brink of war

Iran said some of the captured ‘spies’ will recieve the death penalty.

A spokesman said: “The identified spies were employed in sensitive and vital private sector centres in the economic, nuclear, infrastructural, military and cyber areas… where they collected classified information.”

The news follows a series of incidents on shipping and oil tankers.

Tensions heightened after the Revolutionay Guards seized a British tanker, tjhe Stena Impero, in the Straits of Hormuz.

Iran’s capture was a retalitaion for British police nsiexing an Iranian tanker near Gibralter despite an EU tarrif in place on the importation of Iranian crude.

An intelligence spokesman tol Iranian media: ‘Those who deliberately betrayed the country were handed to the judiciary.

“Some were sentenced to death and some to long-term imprisonment.”

The suspected spies were “employed at sensitive and crucial centres and also the private sector related to them, working as contractors or consultants

the 17 people arrested were all of Iranian nationality and had acted independently of each other.

Some of them had been recruited by falling into a ‘visa trap’ set by the US Central Intelligence Agency for Iranians seeking to travel to the United States.

The counter intelligence chief said: “Some were approached when they were applying for a visa, while others had visas from before and were pressured by the CIA in order to renew them.”

This is a breaking story. More to follow…

source: express.co.uk