Authorities in Iran are planning to arrest more Jews on
trumped up charges of spying for Israel and the United
States, the daily newspaper Teheran Times reported.
This coincides with statements by officials that the
"ringleaders" of the spies are still at large.
The first group of Iranian Jews was arrested last March on
charges of spying for Israel and the U.S. Two Muslims were
also arrested in connection with the same charges.
An anonymous Iranian source said that the Jews, along with
the two Muslims, are accused of sending information to "the
Zionist government," and of sending "members of a spy
network" abroad for training and of helping Iranians leave
the country illegally.
The trial of the 13 was supposed to open last week but was
postponed. Spies in Iran are usually sentenced to death.
Iran's intelligence service has reportedly handed over the
case of 13 Iranian Jews charged with spying for Israel to the
judiciary for trial, a newspaper said.
The case against the 13, which has attracted worldwide
attention and could become the most important trial in Iran
in two decades, took on a new gravity after an Iranian
official said the accused belong to a highly organized spy
network directly linked to Israel.
The source claimed that the 13 had been relaying information
from their espionage activities "through advanced
communications devices" but did not elaborate further on the
alleged spy ring's bosses, saying only they had yet to be
arrested.
It remains to be seen whether the trial will be public. The
source said the suspects will be entitled to a lawyer and
"other rights." The government in Teheran has tried to claim
that the arrests had nothing to do with the fact that the men
are Jewish. It has also bristled under international pressure
-- declaring that it will not accept foreign "meddling" in
the case.
Analysts say President Mohammed Khatami's government may have
been pushing behind the scenes for a quick trial to try to
avoid harming its efforts at rapprochement with Western
countries. The president himself, who is regarded as a
moderate, has kept silent on the issue.
Manouchehr Eliasi, a Jewish member of Iran's parliament, last
week told the Peyam-e Azadi newspaper: "I think the
best solution is to investigate this case as quickly as
possible and get it over with. We should not provide excuses
[for pressuring Iran] to Western countries, which have been
campaigning against the Islamic republic for years." He
added that families of the detainees have said their
situation has improved and they are now permitted visits by
their relatives. The privilege had been denied them for
several months.
