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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081125/twl-iran-seeks-death-penalty-for-israel-3cd7efd.html
Iran seeks death penalty for 'Israel spies'
The top public prosecutor in Tehran said Tuesday he would seek the death penalty against three Iranians accused of being Israeli spies, amid heightened tensions between the two enemy states over Iran's atomic drive.
Saeed Mortazavi said the three had been "trained in Tel Aviv in assassinations, explosions, professional motorbike riding, and working with special cameras, computers and satellites," ISNA news agency reported.
"The court will ask for the execution of the accused," he said, adding the group were arrested before carrying out any operations.
Iran announced on Monday its elite Revolutionary Guards had broken up a spy network linked to arch-enemy Israel's intelligence service Mossad, accusing it of gathering information on Iranian nuclear and military programmes.
News of the arrests came just two days after Iran said it hanged an Iranian telecoms salesman convicted of spying for the Jewish state.
Mortazavi said the first member of the ring was arrested five to six months ago, and that the network had been formed after "Mossad identified a former member of the Bajis (militia) and contacted him through an Israeli consulate in the region."
"After training, this person had to attract other people and organise them for espionage," he was quoted as saying by ILNA news agency, which carried a picture of the prosecutor with the seized equipment including a satellite telephone, a GPS, a laptop and an oscilloscope.
He added that the three suspects had been trained by Mossad in four countries, including Iran's neighbours, as well as Israel by officers named Peter, Sally, Sami, Zaki and Khosrow.
Mortazavi charged that Mossad sought to carry out "attacks against military and missile bases" in Iran and assassinate "some military scientists."
"The first member of the group was tasked with approaching senior revolutionary guard commanders, their residence and the guards' missile bases."
He said the network had not been able to relay "important information" to their employers and that Mossad, suspecting the group had been identified in recent weeks, had ordered them to destroy major spying equipment.
"Fortunately before they could carry out the order our intelligence service seized the equipment," he said.
On Saturday, Iran said it had executed telecoms salesman Ali Ashtari on November 17 for spying for Mossad for three years and warned that its intelligence war with Israel had "become more serious."
Tehran does not recognise Israel and tensions have been exacerbated since the 2005 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly said the Jewish state is doomed to vanish and branded the Holocaust a "myth".
Iran insists its nuclear programme is only aimed at producing electricity and angrily points to Israel's widely believed status as the sole, if undeclared, nuclear armed state in the Middle East.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's powerful ideological army, controls the country's sensitive missile programme, including the long-range Shahab-3 missile, which Tehran says can reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf.
Iran has always warned of a harsh response in the event of attack, threatening to hit US forces in the Gulf and close the vital oil supply route.
Iran seeks death penalty for 'Israel spies'
The top public prosecutor in Tehran said Tuesday he would seek the death penalty against three Iranians accused of being Israeli spies, amid heightened tensions between the two enemy states over Iran's atomic drive.
Saeed Mortazavi said the three had been "trained in Tel Aviv in assassinations, explosions, professional motorbike riding, and working with special cameras, computers and satellites," ISNA news agency reported.
"The court will ask for the execution of the accused," he said, adding the group were arrested before carrying out any operations.
Iran announced on Monday its elite Revolutionary Guards had broken up a spy network linked to arch-enemy Israel's intelligence service Mossad, accusing it of gathering information on Iranian nuclear and military programmes.
News of the arrests came just two days after Iran said it hanged an Iranian telecoms salesman convicted of spying for the Jewish state.
Mortazavi said the first member of the ring was arrested five to six months ago, and that the network had been formed after "Mossad identified a former member of the Bajis (militia) and contacted him through an Israeli consulate in the region."
"After training, this person had to attract other people and organise them for espionage," he was quoted as saying by ILNA news agency, which carried a picture of the prosecutor with the seized equipment including a satellite telephone, a GPS, a laptop and an oscilloscope.
He added that the three suspects had been trained by Mossad in four countries, including Iran's neighbours, as well as Israel by officers named Peter, Sally, Sami, Zaki and Khosrow.
Mortazavi charged that Mossad sought to carry out "attacks against military and missile bases" in Iran and assassinate "some military scientists."
"The first member of the group was tasked with approaching senior revolutionary guard commanders, their residence and the guards' missile bases."
He said the network had not been able to relay "important information" to their employers and that Mossad, suspecting the group had been identified in recent weeks, had ordered them to destroy major spying equipment.
"Fortunately before they could carry out the order our intelligence service seized the equipment," he said.
On Saturday, Iran said it had executed telecoms salesman Ali Ashtari on November 17 for spying for Mossad for three years and warned that its intelligence war with Israel had "become more serious."
Tehran does not recognise Israel and tensions have been exacerbated since the 2005 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly said the Jewish state is doomed to vanish and branded the Holocaust a "myth".
Iran insists its nuclear programme is only aimed at producing electricity and angrily points to Israel's widely believed status as the sole, if undeclared, nuclear armed state in the Middle East.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's powerful ideological army, controls the country's sensitive missile programme, including the long-range Shahab-3 missile, which Tehran says can reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf.
Iran has always warned of a harsh response in the event of attack, threatening to hit US forces in the Gulf and close the vital oil supply route.