Iran has reportedly arrested 17 citizens it alleges are working with the CIA and said it is sentencing some of them to death.
CNN reports that Iranian state media published images allegedly showing the spies in contact with CIA officers.
Iran says that it discovered and broke up the CIA spy ring, arresting all the suspects that were involved during the 2019 Iranian calendar year, which ended in March.
{mosads}”Defendants serving their sentences in prison mentioning tempting promises of CIA officers including emigration to USA, a proper job in America, and money,” reads a document from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence obtained by CNN.
The news comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States after stricter sanctions from the U.S. took effect on Tehran in May.
The United States’s relationship with Iran has been fraught with tension since President Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear pact.
Iran recently announced it had passed the uranium enrichment cap set under that Obama-era nuclear deal.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard earlier this month attempted to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, alleging that the tanker was nearing its waters.
Earlier this month, Trump said that the U.S. had shot down an Iranian drone that had flown to close to a Navy vessel.
The incident followed a similar one in June where Iran shot down a U.S. drone it said was flying in its air space.
In May, Trump announced the deployment of carrier strike group to the region over unspecified threats from Iran.