By IANS,
Tehran : Iran is surrounded by Western “spy centres” set up near its borders with neighbouring countries, an Iranian MP has said.
Zohre Elahian, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian parliament, said Israel’s Mossad, America’s CIA and Britain’s MI6 have established espionage centres in the western, northern and eastern borders of Iran, Xinhua reported citing the Mehr news agency.
The spying agencies have their centres in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan near their borders with Iran, said Elahian.
He said the espionage bases are tasked with organising terrorist actions and intelligence operations against Iran and its citizens.
Iran borders Iraq and Turkey on the west, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan on the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan on the east. In the south lies the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
Iran has arrested a number of suspected Israeli and US spies in the country.
In 2009, Tehran detained three US hikers for illegally entering the country and on espionage charges. The woman hiker, Sarah Shourd, was freed in 2010, and two male hikers, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were released in September 2011.