Iranian authorities arrested "Israel-linked spies," who allegedly were behind an assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist, killed last year, Iranian media said.
The Iranian nuclear physics scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi and "a staunch supporter" of the Islamic revolution has been killed in a blast near his home in northern Tehran. Iran blamed Israel and the United States for the murder.
"Iranian Intelligence Forces managed to identify and arrest main agents involved in the terror attempt and dismantle a network of spies and terrorist group linked to Zionist regime following large-scale security measures and meticulous intelligence observations," the Intelligence Ministry said in a statement cited by the ISNA news agency.
"The terrorists involved in the assassination of martyr Masoud Ali Mohammadi last year have been arrested," an informed source told FARS News Agency.
According to a Press TV report last year, a remote-controlled explosive device attached to a motorbike was detonated near Dr. Massoud Ali-Mohammadi's home in the Qeytariyeh neighborhood. The FARS news agency said, however, the explosive device was planted in a garbage container.
Al Jazeera then said Mohammadi, a lecturer at the Tehran University, might have had links to Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Western powers suspect Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons under the guise of its nuclear program, which Tehran says is aimed at the peaceful generation of civilian energy.
MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti)
