Iran said it had demolished a spy ring of 17 Iranian nationals who were trained by American intelligence agents, but US President Donald Trump dismissed the claim as “totally false”.
Tehran and Washington traded fresh accusations on Monday as Iran remained locked in a separate showdown with the UK over Tehran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker last Friday.
An Iranian intelligence ministry official told foreign reporters in Tehran that the alleged CIA spies worked in military and nuclear facilities and added that the US had expanded its espionage operations inside Iran under Mr Trump.
He said some of the 17 people had been sentenced to death while others were co-operating with Iran’s intelligence services.
But the US president tweeted: “The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth. Just more lies and propaganda (like their shot down drone) put out by a Religious Regime that is Badly Failing and has no idea what to do. Their Economy is dead, and will get much worse. Iran is a total mess!”
Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, told Fox News: “It’s part of their nature to lie to the world. I would take with a significant grain of salt any Iranian assertion about actions they’ve taken.”
Iran revealed the counter-espionage operation in the midst of a crisis sparked by its seizure of the Stena Impero, the UK-flagged tanker, an act of retaliation for Britain’s capture of an Iranian vessel earlier this month.
Iran insists that the UK seized the vessel off the coast of Gibraltar this month at the behest of the US and rejects British allegations that it was shipping oil to Syria in violation of European sanctions.
British prime minister Theresa May, who is scheduled to step down on Wednesday, was due to address the tanker seizure on Monday morning in a meeting of the UK government’s Cobra emergency response committee.
The Iranian intelligence official said the alleged spies were experts and technicians in “sensitive places” from which the US would like to collect information, including military and nuclear sites. But he said the spies had failed to do any major sabotage.
A reformist former government official said Iran’s spy-busting announcement appeared more aimed at a domestic audience than the US.
“Iran’s intelligence services are reminding people that they have full control and authority over the state of affairs,” said the former official. “The intelligence ministry wants to say that despite political infighting, the intelligence services of various organisations are united in fighting espionage and will find out about any co-operation with foreign intelligence services.”
The intelligence ministry official said the spying operation was run exclusively by the US, although some foreign intelligence services had been aware of meetings the Iranian spies had in their countries.
The Iranian anti-espionage operation started last year and it is ongoing, the official said.
The intelligence ministry released video footage on Monday showing CIA agents meeting Iranian spies they recruited in shops and restaurants in countries including Austria, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Afghanistan.
“We have been present . . . in the Iran desks of their [intelligence services],” Mahmoud Alavi, Iran’s intelligence minister, said in a video. “When they work on some forces . . . to hire them as spies, our forces can track them immediately.”
The intelligence ministry official told reporters that none of financial promises CIA agents had made to Iranian nationals had come true.
Timeline: Showdown in the Gulf
8 April
US president Donald Trump announces that the US will add Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps to the list of foreign terrorist organisations, allowing the US to impose further sanctions on Iranian businesses.
May 6
John Bolton, US national security adviser, announces that the Trump administration is deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to troubling “indications and warnings” from Iran.
May 12
Four tankers, including two Saudi vessels, are hit by “sabotage” attacks in the Gulf of Oman, off the coast of Fujairah. US officials said they suspected Iran. Tehran denied any involvement.
June 13
Two oil tankers, the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, are attacked in the Gulf of Oman. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo points the finger at Tehran. Iran denies the accusations. The US military releases a video that it says shows Iran’s involvement.
June 17
Iran announces that it will breach its uranium enrichment limits within 10 days, threatening the total collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal. Hours later, Mr Trump said an additional 1000 American troops would be deployed to the Middle East
June 20-21
After Iran shoots down a US drone it claims strayed into it’s airspace over the Straits of Hormuz — a claim the US disputes — President Donald Trump confirmed that he called off retaliatory strikes on Iran at the last minute.
July 1
Iran breaches uranium stockpile limits, as mandated under the 2015 nuclear deal.
July 4
The Grace 1, a tanker allegedly carrying Iranian oil to the sanctioned Banyas oil refinery in Syria, is seized in Gibraltar’s coastal waters by British forces. Diplomatic sources claim the seizure was prompted by Washington.
July 19
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard seize a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran claims the Stena Impero violated maritime rules, but the action is widely seen as retaliation for the Royal Navy’s seizure of the Grace 1 in Gibraltar.
July 22
Iran sentences 17 Iranian nationals to death that it claims are covert US intelligence agents working inside the Islamic Republic’s military and nuclear facilities.
