Iran reportedly arrests 20 people, cracks down on alleged spies accused of Israel collaboration

The Islamic Republic of Iran has arrested around 20 people in the country’s northwestern region on accusations of cooperating with Israel during the ongoing war, according to reports by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. The arrests were carried out in West Azerbaijan province, prosecutor Hossein Majidi said.

“Twenty people were arrested and detained” after they were found to be “sending details of military, law enforcement and security locations to the Zionist enemy,” Fars reported.

Iranian authorities frequently announce arrests on accusations of espionage for Israel or the United States, though officials often provide limited details about the evidence behind the allegations. Such arrests have been reported more frequently amid heightened tensions and claims of foreign intelligence activity targeting Iran’s leadership and security institutions.

In a separate case, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that an unnamed individual was arrested for allegedly sending information to the opposition-linked London-based Iran International. The IRNA report, which was based on quotes from a local police commander in the Qazvin province, claimed that the arrested individual had used the Starlink terminal, which is outlawed by the ayatollah regime in Tehran.

Iran’s population of some 90 million people has been digitally severed from the outside world after the Iranian regime imposed a complete internet blackout since the war with the United States and Israel began on Feb. 28.

In January, the regime banned all ties with Iran International, claiming the news outlet was “affiliated with the Zionist regime.”

Last week, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence reported the arrest of some 30 people accused of being spies and mercenaries working with Israel and the United States.

The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Israel’s Mossad successfully hacked into Tehran’s traffic cameras, enabling the spy agency to monitor Iran’s top leaders.

Analysts believe that the intelligence gathered through this infiltration helped support the targeted strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and dozens of other senior officials during the opening phase of the war.

“We knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem. And when you know [a place] as well as you know the street you grew up on, you notice a single thing that’s out of place,” one Israeli intelligence source said.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who reportedly survived a recent assassination attempt, claimed in a 2024 interview with CNN that the head of Tehran’s Israel-focused intelligence unit had been a spy for Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, highlighting long-standing concerns within Iran about foreign infiltration.

Senior Iranian officials have also warned about Israeli intelligence penetration. In 2022, former intelligence minister Ali Younesi said Mossad had infiltrated multiple government departments over the previous decade, cautioning that even top officials could be at risk.

Israel’s intelligence operations were crucial in targeting and eliminating senior Iranian political and military leaders during both Operation Rising Lion and the ongoing Operation Roaring Lion.