Hunt for spies launched - the leader "deeply concerned"

Iran

Ayatollah shaken: "Don't trust anyone anymore"

Emil Forsberg

Published 00.56

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: AP

Ayatollah Khamenei warned Hezbollah leaders just before the bombs fell on Beirut.

Now the Iranian leader is shaken - and has arrested several people in his own ranks.

- The supreme leader does not trust anyone anymore, a source told Reuters.

In the days before Hassan Nasrallah was killed, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khameni sent an emissary warning that Israeli agents who had infiltrated Hezbollah were after him.

He then appealed to Nasrallah to leave Lebanon and go to Iran where he would receive protection.

Then Israel's aircraft dropped its deadly load of 80 tons of bombs on Hezbollah's headquarters.

Khamenei has been taken to safety in Iran after the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and is now "deeply concerned about Israeli infiltration in the ranks of his own government", sources told Reuters.

- The top leader doesn't trust anyone anymore, says a source.

Hunting spies

Iran has now launched a hunt for possible spies in the powerful Revolutionary Guard. A particular focus has been directed at those who travel abroad or who have relatives outside Iran.

In the past few days, several officials within the Revolutionary Guard have been arrested in connection with Nasrallah's death. One of them is said to be a guard who recently traveled to Lebanon.

Iranian security services became suspicious when the person asked questions about Nasrallah's whereabouts and how long he would stay in certain places, sources told Reuters.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was warned by Iran's supreme leader days before he died. Photo: Hussein Malla / AP

Building in flames after Israeli attack on Beirut. Photo: Hussein Malla / AP

"Deeply shocked"

Hezbollah also set up its own investigation to flush out Israeli spies after the bloody attack in which the militia members' pagers exploded.

Hundreds of people were questioned and the investigation progressed quickly.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, who was given responsibility for the investigation, targeted members responsible for logistics and dealing in pagers and walkie-talkies.

Then he was killed in an Israeli air raid. Now the investigation is said to have stopped.

- Now a deeper and more comprehensive investigation is needed, says the source.