![Some of the furniture that allegedly concealed bombs, in a photo released Wednesday by Iran's intelligence ministry following the arrest of purported Mossad-linked agents. — AFP](https://i.dawn.com/primary/2022/07/62e1fcbf29067.jpg)
TEHRAN: On Wednesday, Iran claimed that a sabotage group apprehended by its security forces was made up of Kurdish militants working for Israel who intended to blow up a “critical” defence manufacturing centre in the city of Isfahan.Without specifying the nationality of those held, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry had announced the detention on Saturday amid rising hostilities with Israel over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
The ministry said that those apprehended belong to the Iranian Kurdish rebel group Komala and had been handed high explosives for the attack after being enlisted by Israel’s Mossad. Iran, which frequently expresses worry about the supposed presence of Mossad in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region, launched ballistic missile attacks on the region in March, claiming they were directed against Israeli “strategic centres.”
Tehran claimed it was retaliation for Israeli airstrikes in Syria that resulted in the deaths of Iranian military personnel.The regional authority of the Iraqi Kurds said that the strike targeted civilian residential areas rather than foreign nation-owned installations and demanded an international investigation.