MP warns of enemy spying activities around Iran

Senior Iranian parliamentary officials said enemies have established spying centers near Iran's borders in the neighboring countries.Member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Zohreh Elahian said that Israeli Mossad, American CIA and British MI6 have established espionage centers in the western, northern and eastern borders of Iran. "Based on investigations, Mossad, CIA and MI6 spy agencies have set up spy bases on the borderlines of five neighboring countries (with Iran)," member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Zohreh Elahian told FNA. She said the spying agencies have their centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan near these countries' borders with Iran. The MP said these espionage bases are tasked with organizing terrorist actions and intelligence operations against Iran and its citizens, said the lawmaker. "The bases are tasked with directing terrorist groups and even conducting sabotage and espionage operations against the Islamic Republic and its citizens," she added. Iran borders Iraq and Turkey on the west, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan on the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan on the east. In the south of Iran lay the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman with several Arab states on the other side of water. Iran said that in the past years it has arrested a number of Israeli and US spies in the country. In 2009, Iran detained three US hikers for illegally entering the country and espionage charges. The female hiker, Sarah Shourd, was freed in 2010 on a bail of 500,000 US dollars, and the other two, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were released in September 2011, also on a bail of 500,000 US dollars each. In December, an independent French weekly, Le Canard enchaine, revealed that the US, Israeli and British spy agencies have been directly involved in the recent terrorist attacks against Iranian scientists. Mossad conducted the assassinations "with the help of the CIA and MI6," Le Canard enchaine said. Intelligence sources told the influential French weekly that the assassinations were part of Israeli plots aimed at sabotaging Iran's nuclear program. Iran announced in December that security forces have arrested a number of perpetrators of the recent terrorist attacks on the country's scientists and university professors. Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said at the time that the confessions made by the arrested terrorists indicated Israel's direct role in the attacks. "The world Zionism and their arrogant agents, like Mossad, as well as certain European countries are angry at Iran's progress, and they, thus, resort to terrorist measures against Iranian scientists," Najjar stated. Two Iranian university professors Fereidoon Abbasi Davani and Majid Shahriari were assassinated in separate terrorist bomb attacks here in Tehran on November 29 with the latter killed immediately after the blast. Another Iranian university professor and nuclear scientist, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, was also assassinated in a terrorist bomb attack in Tehran in January 2010.