JERUSALEM (JTA) — Iran said it has exposed an Israeli spy ring linked to the assassination of an Iranian physics professor working on the country’s nuclear program.
Members of the spy ring admitted to Iranian officials that they were trained by Israel’s Mossad secret service and that they received their equipment from the spy agency, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.
On Tuesday, Iranian intelligence chief Heidar Moslehi told reporters that more than 10 suspects had been arrested and all had links to the Mossad, The Associated Press reported.
"The intelligence ministry has identified and arrested members of a spy and terrorist network linked to the Zionist regime," an official statement released in Iran reportedly read.
The statement also said that Iran uncovered "vital information about Mossad’s infiltration and operations in the country, and vows to reveal some relevant details in due time in the future."
It claimed that the Mossad used bases in European countries and in countries neighboring Iran in order to carry out attacks on two Iranian nuclear scientists.
Last November the scientists, who taught physics at a university in Tehran, were targeted by separate bombing attacks that killed one and injured the second. Iranian state television blamed "Zionist agents" and the United States for the attacks.
Israel has not commented on Monday’s statements out of Iran.
Last week, Israel’s outgoing Mossad director, Meir Dagan, said Iran would not produce a nuclear weapon before 2015.
Talks between the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, along with Germany — and Iran are scheduled to take place in Istanbul on Jan. 21 and 22.
