TEHRAN, Iran

Iran's Intelligence Ministry claimed Wednesday to have arrested three people working for the Israeli spy agency Mossad in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

In a statement, the ministry's local branch in the border province said the three "Mossad agents" were involved in transferring classified information and documents from Iran.

The statement, however, did not specify the nationalities of the accused men, who it said had been arrested with a court order.

The Israeli spy agency's footprint has dramatically increased in the Islamic Republic in recent years with a series of sabotage incidents at key nuclear facilities and targeted killings of top nuclear scientists.

According to security observers, a vast network of spies exists in Iran today who covertly work for Mossad.

Last month, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have thwarted a sabotage plot at the Fordow nuclear facility and arrested the saboteurs.

It came a day after the IRGC claimed responsibility for an attack on what it said was an Israeli "strategic center" in Iraq's northern Kurdish capital Erbil.

The attack involved a dozen ballistic missiles and was in retaliation for the killing of two IRGC members in an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria.

Tensions between the two arch foes have escalated since the killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020 on the outskirts of Tehran, which Iran blamed on Israel.

A number of security-related incidents have been reported across Iran since then, including at the underground Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran's Isfahan province, which has been targeted many times.

At an event to mark National Army Day on Monday, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi warned that his country would strike "at the heart" of Israel if it makes the "slightest move" against Tehran.

The remarks came as Iran exhibited a range of homegrown weapons, including missile systems, drones, tanks and other military equipment.

"Our message to Israel is that if you seek normalization of ties with countries in the region, you must know that even your slightest movements are not hidden from our intelligence, security and military," Raisi said at the rally attended by top military officials.