Iranian intelligence has “secretly” arrested a senior general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) for allegedly spying for Israel, the New York Times reported yesterday.

The newspaper cited officials with close ties to the IRGC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that Brigadier General Ali Nasiri, who served as a senior commander in the IRGC Protection of Information Unit, was arrested earlier this month.

According to the paper, General Nasiri’s arrest came about two months after a few dozen security officials involved in Iran’s missile programme were arrested for allegedly leaking classified information to Israel.

The paper quoted Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president of Iran, as saying that “the security breaches inside Iran and the vast scope of operations by Israel have really undermined our most powerful intelligence organisation.”

“The strength of our security has always been the bedrock of the Islamic Republic and it has been damaged in the past year,” he added.

Source: Middle East Monitor