Trump says Iran’s claim of breaking up CIA network ‘totally false’

WASHINGTON/DUBAI: US President Donald Trump on Monday rebuffed Iran’s claim of breaking up a network of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) spies was “totally false”.

On Monday, Iran announced it had captured 17 spies working for the CIA and sentenced some of them to death, deepening a crisis between the Islamic Republic and the West.

Iranian state television published images that it said showed the CIA officers who had been in touch with the suspected spies. In a statement read on TV, the Ministry of Intelligence said the 17 spies had been arrested in the 12 months to March 2019.

Some have been sentenced to death, according to another report.

Such announcements are not unusual in Iran and are often made for domestic consumption. But the timing suggests Tehran could harden its position in a standoff with Western powers, which has raised fears of a direct military confrontation.

In recent weeks, the US has blamed Iran for attacks on shipping near the Strait of Hormuz, the global oil trade’s most important waterway, accusations Iran has denied.

The US and Iran have downed drones operated by the other side and, on Friday, Iran captured a British-registered tanker, the Stena Impero, in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran had previously warned it would respond to Britain’s seizure of an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar on July 4.

There was no immediate comment on the Iranian allegations by the CIA or US officials.

Iran announced in June that it had broken up an alleged CIA spy ring but it was unclear whether Monday’s announcement was linked to the same case.