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Iran arrests 'terrorist cell' linked to Israel

Xinhua, April 11, 2012

• Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced Tuesday that the Islamic republic has arrested key "members of an Israeli terrorist cell" in Iran, local media reported.

  The ministry said in a statement that in the operation, "one of the terror and sabotage cells of Israel and a number of its protected cores were identified and a group of criminal terrorists. .. were arrested," local Mehr news agency reported.

  "A chain of operations, conducted in the bordering and central provinces of the country, led to the arrest of the terrorists linked to the Zionist (Israeli) regime," the report cited the statement as saying.

  Some of the operational teams were dismantled and arrested "while they were preparing for terrorist acts" inside Iran, the statement said.

  A considerable number of heavy bombs ready to be blasted, different kinds of machine guns and also military and communication equipments were seized from the arrested people, according to Mehr.

  Also, "the complicated and months-long measures and operations by the Iranian intelligence forces to identify the devils led to the discovery of the Zionists' regional command center in one of the regional countries and identification of the agents active in that command center," semi-official Fars news agency quoted the statement as saying.

  The ministry declined to reveal any further details due to security considerations, but said it will provide the public with more information in due time, Fars reported.

  In the past, the Islamic republic has accused Israel of carrying out intelligence work inside Iran and even of being involved in killings of Iranian nuclear scientists.

  Israel and the West suspect Iran's nuclear program and accuse Iran of conducting weapon-grade activities under the guise of civilian nuclear program. Iran denies the charges, saying that its nuclear activities are for "peaceful" ends.

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