CIA spies arrested

Twelve spies attached to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have reportedly been arrested in Iran.



Irani officials said the agents were targeting Iran's military and its nuclear programme and were operating in co-ordination with Israel's Mossad and other regional agencies.



The Iranian claim follows reports in the US that Lebanon's Hezbollah has unravelled a CIA spy ring within the Shia militant organisation.



Reports quoting US intelligence officials emerged this week appearing to suggest that a number of US spies had been unmasked and that their lives were now in danger in Lebanon.



Although the US Embassy in Beirut initially said there was no substance to the accusations, the Associated Press reports that American officials later conceded that authorities in Iran had been telling the truth.