Iran arrests 12 people over alleged collaboration with Israel

Iran's Revolutionary Guards  have said that 12 people had been arrested for being operatives and collaborating with Israel and planning acts against Iran's security.

The arrests, confirmed by the semi-official news agency Fars on Sunday, come amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel.

"As the Zionist regime (Israel) and their Western backers, most notably the United States, have not succeeded in their sinister goals against the people of Gaza and Lebanon, they are now seeking to spread the crisis to Iran with a series of actions planned against our country's security," the statement from authorities stated.

The Revolutionary Guards added that members of the network of 12 operatives were arrested in six different Iranian provinces.

They did not disclose the identities of those arrested, nor did they provide details regarding the time and location of the detentions.

The individuals are accused of working with Israel, a country Iran has long regarded as its enemy.

While such arrests are not uncommon in Iran, this incident marks the first since the mysterious assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a sensitive area of Tehran.

Both Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s death and have vowed retaliation.

Iran has also previously accused Israel of carrying out attacks on its soil with the help of local operatives. Notably, Israel was implicated in the assassination of prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

The arrests are seen as part of Iran’s broader efforts to curb what it sees as Israeli influence in the country, especially after recent tensions escalated following the Hamas leader’s assassination.

Tensions in the Middle East have shot up since thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Lebanon's Hezbollah members exploded in an attack widely blamed on Israel.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged some of the heaviest cross-border fire in a conflict running in parallel to the almost year-long Gaza war.