TEHRAN (AFP) -Iran has said it had identified 100 spies working for the United States and Israel in border areas of the Islamic state.

“One hundred people who were directly working for the US and Israeli intelligence … who were intending to collect political and military information were identified and are now in our intelligence net,” Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie was quoted as saying.

The minister added that a number of Iranians who wanted to take part in spying courses abroad had also been arrested, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday.

“We were able to identify and arrest all those who wanted to take part in espionage course abroad under the guise of taking part in educational courses,” Mohseni Ejeie said, without elaborating.

Early last month, Iranian MP Ahmad Tavakoli said that Iran had arrested a spy working in parliament’s research centre who had been passing information on its nuclear programme to outlawed armed opposition group, People’s Mujahedeen.

Iranian authorities claim that the United States supports armed groups in the country’s border provinces, whose population includes Kurd, Arab or Baluch ethnic minorities.