Spying
SpyingiStock

Iran has arrested 10 people in a southern province it says are linked to “foreign intelligence services”, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday, citing the Iranian IRNA news agency.

The report said Iran's intelligence agency arrested the 10 after “sophisticated and continuous” surveillance in Bushehr province.

It did not name the countries the suspects were linked to.

The 10 suspects worked for “regional” countries whose intelligence services acted as accomplices and proxies for the spy agencies of “hostile countries,” the news agency reported. The report further stated the 10 people were Iranian expatriates in the regional countries.

Iran regularly says it captured spies from enemy countries, such as the US and Israel.

In August of 2019, Iran jailed two people, including a British dual national, for 10 years for spying for Israel.

In June of that year, a former Iranian Department of Defense contractor was executed by Iran for spying for the US government.

Last year, Iran sentenced eight environmental activists, including an Iranian who reportedly also has British and American citizenship, to prison sentences ranging from four to 10 years on charges of spying for the United States.

In July, Iran claimed its security forces had arrested a network of agents working for Israel and had seized a cache of weapons it said were planned for use during unrest sparked by water shortages.