Manama: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said that its investigations have revealed that the espionage network members arrested last week had links with Iranian intelligence.
“Preliminary investigations, material evidence and detainees’ confessions have indicated that the members of the group had direct links with Iranian intelligence agencies,” the spokesperson for the interior ministry said, quoted by the official Saudi news agency. “The members also received money on several occasion for information and documents on vital locations as part of their espionage for the agencies.”
The spokesperson said that the investigations were continuing.
Saudi Arabia last week said that the security authorities had arrested an 18-member spy ring, made up of 16 Saudis, one Lebanese and one Iranian.
The group members were arrested simultaneously in the two holy cities of Makkah and Medina, the capital Riyadh and the Eastern Province.
The arrest statement did not mention the possible links the group had with other parties and the Saudis did not name countries that could be implicated in the ring.
