Iran surrounded by Western spy centers

 An Iranian lawmaker said Wednesday that Iran has been surrounded by Western spying centers near its borders in neighboring countries.

Zohre Elahian, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament, said that Israeli Mossad, American CIA and British MI6 have established espionage centers in the western, northern and eastern borders of Iran, the local Mehr news agency reported.

The spying agencies have their centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan near these countries` borders with Iran, the report quoted Elahian as saying.

The espionage bases are tasked with organizing terrorist actions and intelligence operations against Iran and its citizens, said the lawmaker.

Iran borders Iraq and Turkey on the west, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan on the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan on the east. In the south of Iran lay the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

Iran said that in the past years it has arrested a number of Israeli and U.S. spies in the country.

In 2009, Iran detained three U.S. hikers for illegally entering the country and espionage charges. The female hiker, Sarah Shourd, was freed in 2010 on a bail of 500,000 U.S. dollars, and the other two, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were released in September 2011, also on a bail of 500,000 U.S. dollars each.

Source: ANTARA