This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Iranian security forces have detained more than 700 people on suspicion of spying for Israel, according to the Fars News Agency.
Fars, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said the arrests have taken place since June 13, when Israel launched a broad air campaign targeting Iranian military, nuclear, and government-related sites and figures.
Iran says more than 600 people were killed — a figure that has not been independently verified — in the strikes, including civilians. In response, Iranian retaliatory attacks reportedly killed dozens of Israelis, among them civilians.
Fars referred to the detainees as “mercenaries,” despite none having been formally charged or tried. It also claimed they “were mainly operating within espionage and sabotage networks” and were “identified and arrested based on tip-offs and intelligence operations.”
The arrests come amid a period of heightened security concerns inside Iran. In recent years, Israel is widely believed to have carried out a series of high-profile assassinations and sabotage missions deep within Iran, revealing significant infiltration of the country’s security and intelligence services.
These breaches have triggered purges, internal investigations, and growing mistrust within Iran’s security institutions.
Since the onset of the current conflict, which paused following a U.S.-brokered cease-fire on June 24, Iran has also accelerated the execution of prisoners convicted of collaborating with Israel — actions condemned by rights groups including Amnesty International.
“Official calls for expedited trials and executions of those arrested for alleged collaboration with Israel show how the Iranian authorities weaponize the death penalty to assert control and instill fear among the people of Iran,” Hussein Baoumi, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said in a June 21 statement.
“A rush to execute people after torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and grossly unfair trials would be a horrifying abuse of power and a blatant assault on the right to life,” he added.
