On 3 January, Iran’s judiciary indicted two French citizens on charges of espionage and one Belgian national in a separate case.

The names of the French citizens have yet to be disclosed; however, Iran’s judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi said that the two were detained on charges of spying and threatening national security.

The Belgian national was arrested on unspecified charges in November of last year and has been under review ever since. 

According to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, French nationals were also arrested in November, raising the total number of people from France detained in Iran to seven.

Last week, seven individuals linked to UK intelligence who were active during the recent riots in Iran’s Kerman Province were arrested by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

These individuals had allegedly been responsible for leading the riots in the Kerman Province. According to local sources, those arrested were part of a network called “Zagros,” an organization that collects anti-revolutionary agents from inside and outside the nation to carry out plots against Tehran in an attempt to destabilize the government during a period of nationwide protests.

A month prior, several French intelligence agents were also detained in Iran for further inciting Iran’s current instability, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV on 16 November.

“People of other nationalities were arrested in the riots, some of whom played a big role. There were elements from the French intelligence agency, and they will be dealt with according to the law,” Vahidi said.

Several Mossad agents have also been arrested in Iran over recent months, allegedly planning to carry out sabotage operations and assassinations targeting security personnel.

On 22 December last year, Iran’s security forces identified and arrested members of four Mossad-affiliated operational teams, according to a statement disclosed by Tehran’s Intelligence Ministry.