News - Middle East:  Iranian intelligence forces have identified and arrested an individual in the country’s northwestern province of Ardabil on charges of espionage for the Israeli regime’s Mossad spy agency.

The fugitive, whose identity was not immediately available, was wanted by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry. He was captured upon an order from the Prosecutor's Office of Ardabil Province.

According to the Media Bureau of the provincial Prosecutor's Office, the Mossad agent was in close contact with high-profile Israeli intelligence officers through social media, and was gathering critical information for them under the guise of a news editor.

He had traveled to several provinces in the hope of taking refuge there and finally leaving the country, before he was identified and captured during a surprise operation in Ardabil Province.

The arrested spy purportedly hails from a region in southern Iran.

Mossad reportedly decided to immediately close his user accounts and delete related information once the news about his arrest emerged.

Earlier this year, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said its forces had identified a significant number of spies linked to Mossad in 28 countries across the world.

In a statement on February 2, the ministry announced, what it described as, the “largest combined intelligence and counter-intelligence operation” against the Israeli regime’s espionage and security organizations.

The statement underlined that the “venturesome” operation had been conducted in the form of a series of intelligence-counterintelligence, offensive-defensive actions, and through the use of various methods of intelligence gathering, which led to obtaining a "unique" and "unprecedented" collection of information. 

“In addition to intelligence and security findings, obtaining special information related to some of the most important secret military facilities, weapons factories, and strategic civilian industries of the usurping Zionist regime is also among the achievements of the ministry’s large and multi-stage operation,” the statement added.

Source: Press TV