Iran arrests members of over a dozen Israel-linked terrorist teams: Intel minister

Iran’s intelligence minister says security forces have managed to arrest members of over a dozen Israel-linked terrorist teams and effectively foiled their nefarious plots to destabilize the country.

Esmail Khatib made the remarks on Tuesday night at a meeting with intelligence officials of Zanjan province in northwestern Iran.

“More than 12 terrorist teams have been arrested by intelligence forces in a short span of time,” he informed.

“These terrorist teams were seeking to avenge their failure in [advancing] sedition through carrying out various operations,” he said, noting that the “vigilance” of intelligence bodies “foiled all such plots.”

The intelligence minister said the root of terrorist teams, who sought to carry out acts of sabotage in Iran, can be traced back to the Zionist regime.

The remarks come as Iran’s intelligence bodies have found footprints of American and other Western spy agencies in recent violent riots in the country which claimed the lives of dozens of people and security forces.

In a joint statement on October 28, 2022, Iran’s intelligence ministry and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) elaborated on the major role of foreign spying services, including the CIA and Mossad, in orchestrating riots.

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Foreign-backed riots hit various Iranian provinces since 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini died at the hospital on September 16, three days after she collapsed at a police station in Tehran. An investigation attributed her death to an underlying medical condition.

The violent riots claimed many lives of civilians and security forces and paved the way for a series of terrorist attacks across the country. In the last five months, the terrorists have set fire to public property and tortured several Basij members and security forces to death.

Smuggled shotguns seized

Western spy agencies have been involved in smuggling weapons into Iran to further stoke violence and unrest in the country. There have been numerous reports of weapon smuggling gangs being intercepted and dismantled by Iranian security agencies in recent months. 

In the latest case, on Wednesday, an army official said that nine shotguns were seized following an intelligence operation in the southwest of the country.

“This is the first time that such weapons are being discovered in Khuzestan [province],” Brigadier General Hamzeh Bidadi, head of the army’s regional headquarters in the southwest said.

He noted that such weapons are typically used in riots to kill people and then implicate security forces in the crime.

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Foreign spying agencies ‘too anxious’

Speaking in a local ceremony on Wednesday, a top IRGC intelligence official said that foreign intelligence agencies are worried about Iran’s response to their hostile measures.

“A while ago, intelligence forces of some countries that oppose the Islamic establishment had a meeting in the region and they were too anxious despite apparently having evaluated all aspects of recent riots,” said Second Brigadier General Mohammad Toolaei, Deputy of the Intelligence Organization of the IRGC for coordination affairs.

“Participants in the meeting objected to wrong assessments that had been offered about Iran, noting that such assessments led to their support for riots through intervention and that now, they should await Iran’s retaliatory measures,” he said.  

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