Iran arrests nuclear 'spy'

Iran today said it had arrested a man on suspicion of selling Iran’s nuclear secrets to an exiled Iranian opposition group, state radio reported.

“The man transferred classified information, including a bulletin on nuclear activities, to the hypocrites (the armed opposition group the People’s Mujahedeen),” state radio said.

State radio did not identify the man but said he had been working at the Iranian Parliament’s Research Centre, an advisory body to the parliament on foreign and strategic issues.

It did not say how the man obtained the information and it was not immediately clear whether an employee of the research centre would have access to sensitive information on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Labelled a terrorist organisation by the European Union and the United States, the People’s Mujahedeen seeks to overthrow Iran’s ruling Islamic establishment.

The group claims Iran is inciting sectarian strife in Iraq, its neighbour.

The US State Department first said in 1997 that the group engaged in terrorist activities.

Iran acknowledged in 2004 that it had arrested 10 military officers, nuclear workers and others on charges of revealing its nuclear secrets to Israeli and US intelligence agencies, but said the information passed to the United States and Israel was “without value”.

Top lawmaker Ahmed Tavakoli confirmed the state radio report.

“This person has been working in Parliament’s Research Centre since 2001. He was arrested by the Intelligence Ministry,” Tavakoli told the semi-official Fars news agency today.

Tavakoli told Fars that the arrested man will stand trial but gave no date.

The People’s Mujahedeen participated in the 1979 ousting of the former Shah of Iran. But it fell out with the clerical government and for years it fought Iran from Iraq with the backing of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

During the US-led invasion of Iraq, the US military briefly bombed camps until the group capitulated and agreed to disarm.