Iran announces the arrest of CIA spies, but …

Iran has announced the arrest of 17 Iranian citizens recruited by the CIA in the United States to spy on its nuclear and military targets. North American President Donald Trump has left to categorically deny the version.

The arrests have occurred in recent months, an Iranian intelligence agent said Monday at an Iranian press conference in Tehran. He noted that detainees were working in "hot spots" in military and nuclear facilities, adding that most had been sentenced to death.

Surprised by the news, the Republican president again used his Twitter account to declare: "The report that Iran has captured CIA spies is totally false." drone down), "he said.The US president also said that the Iranian economy" is dead "and that the situation" will worsen. "" Iran is a total disaster ", did he declare.

The CIA, however, did not mention it. In general, the policy of the agency is to avoid clarifying information about arrests or other situations involving its undercover agents or informants. "There is a reason why the government never comment on this type of claim.The next time such information will go unanswered, it is badumed that it is true," said the former spokesman. of the National Security Council. Ned Price

As if his publication on Twitter was not enough, Trump then reaffirmed his position before the press when he received in Pakistan the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan: "It is more and more difficult for me to reach an agreement with Iran because they act very badly. "he said.

The news of the alleged arrests comes at a time when the nuclear deal between Iran and other international powers collapses, as tensions grow in the Persian Gulf. The crisis began after President Trump's decision to remove the United States from the agreement with Tehran and strengthen the sanctions against the country. From that moment, the relationship only worsened.

According to the statement by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, the 17 alleged spies would have received "sophisticated training" and would have achieved their sabotage missions, including the gathering of information in the centers where they worked, the realization of 39, technical and intelligence activities, and the transfer and installation of monitoring devices.

The report also shows that the CIA had promised inmates visas or jobs in the United States, and that agents had changed sides and were now working against the northern country. "The identified spies were working in key private sector centers related to the economy, nuclear research, infrastructure, military or cybernetics, where they collected confidential information," they explained.

Last week, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohamad Yavad Zarif attended meetings at the United Nations headquarters in New York to express Tehran's willingness to sit down and negotiate whenever Washington lifts sanctions against his country.

"If Trump wants more, we can ratify an additional protocol and cancel the sanctions that he has imposed," Zarif said of the "Global Action Plan" (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement Multilateral with Iran, announced by the United States. its withdrawal in May of last year.

This withdrawal was due, according to the US government, to the fact that the Iranian authorities were violating the spirit of the treaty with the aim of secretly developing nuclear weapons, a charge that was not supported by the rest of the countries. have signed the agreement: Russia, China, Germany, United Kingdom and France.

Iran has so far rejected any proposal to negotiate a new agreement, saying it will not accept negotiations under pressure.

On Monday, Washington sanctioned Chinese public corporation Zhuhai Zhenrong and its executive director, Yumin Li, accused by state secretary Mike Pompeo of "violating US law by accepting crude" from Tehran. Since last November, all countries can be sanctioned by the United States if they buy Iranian oil.