P.R. RAGE GROWS
Tehran says it busted 17 in CIA spy ring; ‘lies,’ sez U.S.
One of the most common signs in the protests featured the number 4,645, the death toll from Hurricane Maria as estimated by a Harvard University study. Rossello’s government initially put the figure at 64 before raising it to 2,975 almost a year later.
“The people have awakened after so much outrage,” Benedicta Villegas, a 69year-old retired nurse, told The Associated Press. “There are still people without roofs and highways without lights. The chat was the tip of the iceberg.”
Rossello’s press secretary is one of several officials who have resigned in the wake of the text scandal.
Six others were arrested, including the island’s former education secretary, on accusations of illegally awarding millions of dollars in contracts to politically connected figures.
Several Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Obama cabinet member Julian Castro, have joined the calls for Rossello to resign.
Artists and celebrities, including singers Ricky Martin and Bad Bunny and “Hamilton” creator and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, have also joined the movement.
When asked to weigh in Monday, President Trump called Rossello “a terrible governor,” but stopped short of calling for his resignation. Iran claims to have arrested 17 Iranian nationals who were allegedly acting as spies for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a claim President Trump strongly denied Monday.
The U.S. adversary said the alleged spies, some of whom have reportedly been sentenced to death, worked as contractors or advisers across military, nuclear and other sectors to try to obtain classified information, according to a statement by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed the claims in an interview on Fox News, saying the Iranian regime “has a history of lying.” Trump echoed that message on Twitter.
“The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false,” he tweeted. “Zero truth. Just more lies and propaganda (like their shot down drone) put out by a Religious Regime that is Badly Failing and has no idea what to do.”
Iranian officials offered few details on the supposed arrests and declined to say how many suspects have been sentenced.
But in a rare news conference in Tehran, an intelligence official said the alleged spies were taken into custody over the past months and that the CIA had promised them U.S. visas or jobs in America, The Associated Press reported. The official, who did not give his name, said some of the agents had turned and were working with Iran “against the U.S.,” according to the report.
The allegations come at a time of increasing tensions between Iran and Western nations, which have escalated since the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal last year.
On Friday, Iran seized a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf to investigate “violations of international maritime regulations.” A day earlier, U.S. Marines said they shot down an Iranian drone that was reportedly threatening the safety of an American ship in the Gulf of Hormuz.