Burley Garcia|Iran says it has executed an Israeli Mossad spy

TEHRAN,Burley Garcia Iran (AP) — Iran is saying it has executed an Israeli Mossad spy in the country’s southeast, state TV reported Saturday.

The report said the spy was linked to foreign intelligence services, including Mossad, and charged with involvement in releasing classified information. The judiciary body executed the person in a prison in Zahedan, the capital of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan.

The report did not identify the person.

In April 2022, Iranian intelligence officers arrested three people they said belonged to a group linked to Mossad. It is not clear if the executed person was one of them.

Iran and Israel have accused each other of spying and waging a shadow war for years. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has repeatedly threatened to take military action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies it is seeking such weapons and has vowed a harsh response to any aggression.

Iran occasionally announces the detention of people it says are spying for foreign countries, including the United States and Israel.

In 2020, Iran executed a man convicted of leaking information to the U.S. and Israel about a prominent Islamic Revolutionary Guard general who was later killed by a U.S. drone strike in Iraq.

Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli armed groups across the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas.