Iran on Monday claimed it has detained 17 citizens it says were working as spies for the United States, some of whom have been sentenced to death, The New York Times reports.
This information came via an unnamed official from Iran's Intelligence Ministry, although the Times notes Iran has made similar announcements in the past without providing many further details or evidence that can corroborate the claims. Iran claims that all of the detained suspects have confessed to working as spies for the Central Intelligence Agency, CNN reports.
Some of the alleged spies that were detained will receive jail sentences, Iran said, but others have been sentenced to death, NBC News reports. Per the Times, Iran claims some have already been executed. The citizens are alleged to have been recruited to spy on Iran's nuclear and military sites, where they worked, The Associated Press reports.
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These claims come amid rising tensions between Iran and the United States, with Trump last month calling off a strike at the last minute that would have been a response to the downing of a U.S. drone. Last week, the U.S. said it destroyed an Iranian drone that came too close, only for Iran to deny that it had lost a drone. And on Friday, Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Trump to offer support for the U.K. and call Iran "nothing but trouble."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said in response to questions about Iran's alleged detainment of U.S. spies per the AP, "The Iranian regime has a long history of lying." He added that anything Iran says should be taken with "a significant grain of salt."
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