AFP: Security agencies in Kuwait have busted a spy cell working for Iran's Revolutionary Guards to feed information on Kuwaiti and US targets, a newspaper reported on Saturday. KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Security agencies in Kuwait have busted a spy cell working for Iran's Revolutionary Guards to feed information on Kuwaiti and US targets, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Al-Qabas, citing high-ranking security sources, said at least seven Kuwaiti men were arrested, some of whom served in the interior and defence ministries, as well as bidoon, or stateless Arabs, and other Arabs.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, on Tehran's Arabic-language television Al-Alam, denied the report as "utterly baseless" and part of propaganda efforts against the Islamic republic.
But Al-Qabas said security agencies were still hunting for six to seven others suspected of being members of the cell, which was dismantled in a coordinated effort between the secret service and army intelligence.
Cell members had taken pictures of Kuwaiti military and other vital targets in addition to US military sites.
Security forces stormed the home of one of the cell leaders in Sulaibiya, 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Kuwait City, earlier this week and found maps for key sites, sophisticated communications gear and over 250,000 dollars in cash.
Al-Qabas quoted Kuwaiti security sources as saying members of the cell had confessed they were assigned to recruit new members whose ideas were similar to the Revolutionary Guards.
Cell members had visited Iran frequently under the guise of tourism, medical treatment or visiting religious places.
Kuwait is home to several US military bases. The main base in the emirate is located in Arifjan, 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Kuwait City, and houses around 15,000 US soldiers.
The emirate is also used as a transit point for US troops into and out of both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Revolutionary Guards are an elite military, industrial and political force set up to safeguard Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution from both foreign and domestic threats.
They have repeatedly warned they have US bases in Iraq and Afghanistan under watch, implying they will pound these targets and could shut down the sea lanes of the oil-rich Gulf if the United States launches a military attack.
