Ali Nassiri, a general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and a former commander of its information protection unit, denied that the Revolutionary Guards arrested him on charges of spying for Israel, describing the news reported by the American newspaper "New York Times" as a rumor.
Nasiri said - in a press interview - that he has been at the helm of the Revolutionary Guards for 30 years, and added that Iran's enemies are seeking to obscure their defeats by spreading rumors against the Guard and its leaders.
The Iranian general mentioned that Israel is an artificial entity and its demise is inevitable, as he put it.
The New York Times published a report on Wednesday, citing a person close to senior Revolutionary Guard officials, that General Nassiri was arrested last June on suspicion of spying for Israel.
leak documents
The American newspaper added that Nasiri's arrest came two months after the arrest of dozens of employees in the Iranian Ministry of Defense and those working in the missile development program, on suspicion of leaking secret military documents to Tel Aviv, including draft missile designs.
These developments come at a time when Iran recently witnessed a series of deaths and assassinations of military figures and researchers linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and the Iranian authorities accused Israel of being behind some of these incidents, and pledged to respond.