Qatar says it arrests two cells linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

Qatar announced on Tuesday evening that it had arrested two cells it said were operating on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The state news agency (QNA) reported that the State Security Service had detained “two cells working for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Qatar”.

It said: “The precision monitoring and tracking operations resulted in the capture of ten suspects, seven of whom were tasked with espionage missions to gather intelligence on the nation’s vital and military infrastructure, alongside three others assigned to conduct sabotage activities and trained in the use of drones.”

Authorities said the suspects were found in possession of locations and coordinates of sensitive facilities, as well as communication devices and technological equipment.

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According to QNA, the suspects admitted during questioning to links with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and to being assigned espionage and sabotage missions.

The agency did not disclose the nationalities of those detained.

As of 21:40 GMT, there had been no immediate comment from Tehran on the Qatari report.

Separately, Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said an Iranian ballistic missile struck Al Udeid Air Base on Tuesday. The base is used by US forces. 

Iran has been launching strikes at US targets in the Gulf in retaliation for a US–Israeli military campaign that began on Saturday with strikes on Iranian territory.

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