Iran recently arrested several members of a “Zionist terror network” with links to Israel’s Mossad spy agency, the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence claimed on Monday.
According to the statement, secret agents in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) last week captured an unknown number of suspects across the country.
During the arrest raids, the IRGC operatives discovered “43 bombs with high destructive power and remote control capabilities,” as well as other weapons, reported state news agency IRNA.
The alleged spies were “supported financially and logistically” by Mossad “terrorist centers located in Denmark and the Netherlands,” Iran said, and stand accused of plotting explosions at public gatherings, including at the tomb of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
The bombings were said to have been planned for Muharram, the Islamic new year, which this year fell on July 19.
Tehran’s official statement furthermore accused the cell’s members of attacking government buildings and other regime targets. They also managed to raise the Israeli flag “in various places,” the Intelligence Ministry claimed.
The state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Agency published what it said was video footage of last week’s arrests.
“The Ministry of Intelligence reserves the right to pursue terrorist proxies outside the country’s borders, and will continue to take appropriate measures against supporters of terrorism,” Iran threatened, adding that “hosting [terrorists] always comes at great cost.”
In 2019, the government of the Netherlands charged Iran with ordering two political murders in the northern European country. The United States, France and Denmark have also accused the regime of plotting attacks on their soil.
Some two months ago, Iran already arrested 14 members of what it claimed was an Israel-linked “terrorist cell” planning to carry out assassinations in the country. This came shortly after reports that an Israel-affiliated “terrorist group” had been arrested on the country’s western border.
Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, for its part, in June publicized a secret operation in Iran that thwarted a plot to target Israelis in Cyprus. An IRGC hit-squad head, captured by Mossad agents in Iran, provided information that led Cypriot intelligence services to foil an attack targeting Israelis on the island.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in April at a ceremony honoring Mossad operatives that the spy agency’s “ultimate mission” was to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear capabilities.
“If we do not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, we will be in a different reality, where the entire world will be held hostage by a party bent on destroying us, and that is why this is our ultimate mission,” said Netanyahu.
