US disputes Iran’s claim it arrested 17 CIA spies

The Trump administration disputed a claim by Iran’s state media Monday that authorities in the Middle East country arrested 17 secret agents recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency to spy on its nuclear and military sites.

Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency said some of them have been sentenced to death. It was not clear whether all the alleged spies were Iranian nationals.

There is no U.S. embassy or diplomatic presence in Iran, meaning there is no obvious diplomatic cover for American agents who may operate inside Iran.

The Fars news agency published images that Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said show the CIA officers who it claimed were in touch with the suspected spies. The ministry said the agents infiltrated organizations and institutions in Iran’s private sector.

There was no immediate reaction from the CIA, which rarely comments on its national security activities. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed Iran’s announcement. “The Iranian regime has a long history of lying,” he said in an interview on Fox News. In a tweet, President Donald Trump called Iran’s claim “totally false. Zero truth.” He said Iran’s economy is “dead” and “will get much worse.”

The arrests occurred over the past few months as Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers has been under increasing strain after Washington’s withdrawal a year ago and its renewal of economic sanctions on Iran. Tensions involving the United States, Britain and Iran have spiked in the Persian Gulf region.

Soon-to-depart British Prime Minister Theresa May chaired an emergency security session Monday to discuss how to respond to Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

State TV in Iran aired a documentary Monday that purports to show a CIA officer recruiting an Iranian man in the United Arab Emirates. It was not clear whether the broadcast was connected to the announcement about the alleged spies.