Iran arrests 12 people linked to overseas agents - state media

16 in police custody, Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests that pose one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979. Tehran has accused Western intelligence services of fomenting the protests and seeking to instigate civil war in Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday arrested 12 people accused of being linked to overseas agents and planning "subversive action", the elite force said in a statement, according to state media. "The members of this network, under the guidance of anti-revolutionary agents living in Germany and the Netherlands, were intending to carry out subversive action by procuring war weapons and acting against national security," the Revolutionary Guards' statement read.

The statement did not specify the nationality of the individuals or give any other details. Since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 in police custody, Iran has been gripped by nationwide protests that pose one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979.

Tehran has accused Western intelligence services of fomenting the protests and seeking to instigate civil war in Iran.

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