Iran arrests 10 for kidnapping, interrogating security forces for Israel

10 individuals suspected of working with the Israeli Mossad in the West Azerbaijan Province of Iran were indicted on Monday, according to Iranian media.

The individuals were focused on identifying Iranian intelligence forces who worked against Israel in West Azerbaijan and Tehran provinces in northern Iran and the Hormuzgan Province in southern Iran, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.

The report claimed that the 10 suspects were in direct contact with several Mossad officers and had kidnapped, threatened and beaten Iranian forces in an attempt to extract information.

The cell had additionally tried to kidnap and assassinate a number of members of the Iranian security and intelligence forces, but had failed to do so, according to Tasnim.

The ten had also received payment from Israel for missions they completed and had set fire to the cars and homes of some people related to the security agencies of Iran.

CHIEF OF STAFF of Iran’s Armed Forces Maj.-Gen. Mohammad Bagheri (right) and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh at the unveiling of the Kheibarshekan missile at an undisclosed location in Iran, in February (credit: REUTERS)

Four of the suspects were charged with “corruption on earth,” a charge usually issued against political dissenters, those accused of damaging Iranian national security and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Indictment comes just months after Mossad reportedly interrogated 2 IRGC officials

Earlier this year, the Iran International news agency reported that two IRGC officials had been kidnapped and interrogated by the Mossad on Iranian territory.

IRGC officials Yadollah Khedmati and Mansour Rasouli were both reportedly kidnapped by the Mossad and interrogated, according to the reports.

Rasouli reportedly admitted to planning to assassinate an Israeli diplomat in Turkey, a journalist in France and a senior US general in Germany.

Khedmati reportedly admitted his role in transferring weapons to Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen as part of the Logistics Wing of the IRGC.

It is unclear if Iranian authorities were referring to these cases in the indictment published on Monday.

Recent arrests of Iranians accused of working with the Mossad

Earlier this month, the IRGC’s intelligence service arrested a person spying for Israel in the city of Kerman in central Iran.

The head of the local judiciary, Ebrahim Hamidi, told Tasnim at the time that the suspect was planning to carry out “anti-security measures” in the area.

“The accused has made several trips to different countries with the aim of transferring information and training for anti-security and subversive measures through communication with intelligence officers, and his last trip was to a neighboring country,” added the judiciary official.