Iran captured 17 spies working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and some have been sentenced to death, Iranian authorities said.
The agencies "successfully dismantled a (CIA) spy network," the head of counter-intelligence at the Iranian intelligence ministry, who chose to remain anonymous, told reporters in Tehran.
"Those who deliberately betrayed the country were handed to the judiciary... some were sentenced to death and some to long-term imprisonment," the source said.
Iran's state television showed images of CIA officials who were allegedly in touch with the spies. The news comes at a time where Iran-US tensions soar after the United States withdrew unilaterally from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed economic sanctions on the Islamic republic. On July 4, Britain has seized an Iranian oil tanker and in turn, last week, Iran captured a British tanker.
The suspects had been "employed at sensitive and crucial centres and also the private sector related to them, working as contractors or consultants," said the official.
Seventeen Iranian suspects had been identified. 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. Another media report said that some of the seventeen were sentenced to death.
In June, Iran announced that it had dismantled an alleged CIA spy ring. However, it isn't clear whether or not those arrested today are connected to it. "Following clues in the American intelligence services, we recently found the new recruits Americans had hired and dismantled a new network," state news agency IRNA reported at the time, quoting an intelligence ministry official.
IRNA said the Islamic republic had carried out the operation in cooperation with "foreign allies", but refused to name any state.
