Iran arrests IRGC general accused of spying for Israel, NYT

Shafaq News/ The Iranian authorities arrested a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) earlier this month on suspicion of spying for Israel. The New York Times (NYT) reported.

An Iranian official tells the New York Times that Brig. Gen. Ali Nasiri, a senior commander in the IRGC Protection of Information Unit, was arrested two months after a dozen Iranian Defense Ministry's missile defense program employees were apprehended for leaking military intelligence.

Iranian officials told The Times that Nasiri's arrest rattled leadership in Tehran, with some calling for the removal of IRGC intelligence chief Hossein Taeb. 

According to Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a reformist former vice president of Iran, "The dismissal of the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' intelligence service, last week, was a recognition by Tehran that confronting the Israeli threat requires new leadership and a reset of strategies and protocols."

"The security breaches inside Iran have already undermined our strongest intelligence institution." He told NYT.