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CIA arrests in Iran? Allegations point to smoldering covert war with US.

CIA arrests were perhaps Iranians working as informants for Western intelligence services. Iranian officials this week announced the arrests of a dozen spies.

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Raheb Homavandi/Reuters
Masked members of the Iranian Basij militia parade on Friday.

A smoldering covert war pitting the United States against Iran took a new turn this week as Iranian officials announced the arrests of a dozen 鈥淐IA spies鈥 they said were targeting the country鈥檚 nuclear program.

Iranian officials, including the country鈥檚 intelligence minister, did not release the identities or nationalities of the alleged spies, but intelligence analysts say they are probably Iranians working as informants for Western intelligence services.

鈥淭he main mission of this act of espionage was related to Iran鈥檚 progress in the fields of nuclear technology and also military and security activities,鈥 said Parviz Sorouri, a member of Iran鈥檚 powerful parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, according to the official IRNA news agency. 鈥淭he US and Zionist regime鈥檚 espionage apparatuses were trying to damage Iran both from inside and outside with a heavy blow, using regional intelligence services.鈥

The potential 鈥淐IA arrests鈥 followed reports earlier in the week of other arrests in Iran. There were also reports that Hezbollah, the Iran-affiliated Shiite militia in Lebanon, has arrested alleged CIA informants.聽

The latest Iranian allegations could not be verified, and the Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment, as it does as a rule on 鈥渙perational activities.鈥 But the charges were the latest installment in a growing list of covert operations 鈥 or accusations claiming such operations. That list includes the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists, explosions at Iranian factories and military installations, cyberattacks targeting Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities, and 鈥 on the other side 鈥 the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Iran has for years accused the US of working in conjunction with Israeli intelligence to thwart Iran鈥檚 nuclear program through covert operations. Many analysts assume that the Stuxnet computer worm that affected machines in Iran鈥檚 nuclear installations between June 2009 and the end of 2010 was developed in Israel with US assistance.

US officials have declined to acknowledge American involvement in the covert operations including Stuxnet. But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton did claim early this year that the virus and other 鈥渢echnological difficulties鈥 had set back Iran鈥檚 nuclear progress.

Richard Clarke, a former White House terrorism adviser and author of the book, 鈥淐yber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It,鈥 cites Stuxnet as a poster child for cyberwarfare.

The covert war on Iran鈥檚 nuclear program has advanced as diplomatic efforts have faltered, which have left Western powers with the option of economic sanctions for curbing Iran鈥檚 nuclear ambitions.

But some Iran analysts credit a tandem reliance on covert operations and economic sanctions as slowing Iran鈥檚 nuclear progress 鈥 and thus as quieting the chorus of hawkish voices calling for airstrikes on Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities.

On the other hand, the US presidential campaign has provided a venue for one-upmanship among candidates in terms of dealing with Iran. Some Republican candidates have inched closer to support for airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The campaign has also provided a stage for discussion of the merits of covert operations against Iran, as well as for some acknowledgement that a covert war already exists.

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich has taken to recommending covert US operations in Iran 鈥 drawing mocking retorts from Democrats who say that Mr. Gingrich鈥檚 idea is behind the curve.

Earlier this week retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential aspirant, accused some Republican candidates of 鈥渞attling the sabers for war with Iran.鈥 He then singled out Gingrich for talking up covert action as if it were an untried option.

鈥淥ne candidate鈥 was 鈥減lacing heavy emphasis on covert action as though he had just invented the idea and nothing is happening now,鈥 Mr. Clark said, referring to Gingrich. He called the notion 鈥渁 little bit cute, since the definition of covert action is that it cannot be acknowledged."

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