Iran's Intelligence Ministry says it dismantled four networks and arrested 31 in Kerman province

Iran's Ministry of Intelligence announced in a statement on Saturday that members of four organized networks, comprising 31 individuals it described as mercenaries of the American-Zionist enemy, were identified and arrested in Sirjan County. The arrests followed public reports and intelligence monitoring by the ministry's intelligence forces at the General Department of Intelligence of Kerman province.

According to the statement, the networks operated under names designed to appeal to adolescents and young adults, and their members had defined roles and specific plans to take part in nationwide calls to action. The ministry said the members were preparing to incite unrest and carry out street sabotage by manufacturing large numbers of Molotov cocktails and building tools to destroy city surveillance cameras.

The statement further alleged that during unrest in Tehran in January, members of these networks carried out acts of destruction, including setting fire to a governor's office, vandalizing banks, government agencies, and public and private property, destroying urban surveillance cameras and buildings, and attacking a police headquarters in an attempt to seize weapons.

The Ministry of Intelligence did not provide further details about the identities of those arrested or the specific charges they may face. The announcement is part of a series of statements by Iranian authorities in recent months regarding the dismantling of what they describe as sabotage and espionage networks linked to foreign adversaries.

According to Mehr News, the ministry's statement said the operations were carried out after public reports and intelligence monitoring by its forces in Kerman province.