Tehran says it has arrested 20 alleged Israeli spies in recent months, days after executing a nuclear scientist convicted of aiding Mossad.
Iran has announced the arrest of 20 individuals it accuses of working for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, warning that those convicted will face “severe punishment”. The disclosure, reported by state media on Saturday and cited by Reuters, comes just days after the execution of nuclear scientist Rouzbeh Vadi, who was found guilty of espionage and passing information about another Iranian scientist killed in Israeli airstrikes in June.
Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri confirmed that charges against some of the detainees had been dropped, leading to their release, but did not specify how many were freed.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” Jahangiri declared in Tehran.
Full details on the remaining suspects, he added, will be made public once investigations are completed.
The arrests are the latest in a string of Iranian crackdowns targeting alleged Israeli espionage operations. In the past year alone:
- May 2024: Iran executed Pedram Madani, 41, on charges of spying for Israel.
- December 2023: Authorities announced the execution of an “Israeli Mossad spy” in the country’s southeast.
- Late 2023: Four alleged Mossad operatives were hanged, accused of meeting Mossad chief David Barnea, training in Africa, and entering Iran via Iraq’s Kurdish region.
- 2022: A “terrorist” allegedly linked to a drone strike on an Iranian defense ministry site was executed.
Tehran has long accused Israel of sabotage, targeted assassinations, and covert operations inside Iran — charges Israel rarely comments on but is widely believed to have carried out in efforts to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program.
