Iran claims it arrested Israeli spies plotting to kill nuclear scientists
The arrests come at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, as the latter has been linked to a recent wave of attacks targeting Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
Iranian hard-line media reported June 21 that Iran was holding three individuals working as agents for Mossad, the overseas branch of Israel's intelligence agency.
According to Mehdi Shamsabadi, the prosecutor in the southeastern city of Zahedan, the three were rounded up from across multiple locations nationwide in April following an eight-month-long sophisticated surveillance operation by Iran's Intelligence Ministry.
"They had been tasked with the assassination of nuclear scientists," the prosecutor told a presser, adding that in the face of damning evidence, the three "showed absolutely no objection to their arrest warrants."
At least five Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated since 2010 in operations blamed on Israel. The Israeli government, which considers Iran's nuclear and missile programs to be existential threats, has neither denied nor confirmed its involvement.
