Speaking at a provincial council in the province of West Azarbaijan on Thursday, Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alawi said Iran is forcefully fighting off the Zionist regime of Israel.

“We have inflicted defeats on that regime in various arenas by taking intelligence measures, and this issue (defeating Israel) will continue in future,” Alawi added.

He also noted the close cooperation and rapport among the Iranian intelligence organizations have stymied the hostile plots for damaging the country.

The anti-Iranian groups receive financial, training and military supports from the global arrogance (the US), the minister noted, stressing that a considerable level of security prevails in Iran despite the great capabilities of proxies of enemies in the arms sphere.

In June 2018, Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency announced that former minister Gonen Segev has been charged with spying for Iran.

The former energy and infrastructure minister – who also spent time in jail for drug smuggling, forgery and fraud – was arrested on suspicion of “assisting the enemy in a time of war, spying against Israel and providing intelligence to the enemy”.

According to the Shin Bet, Segev arrived for a visit in May 2018 to Equatorial Guinea, where he was refused entry to the country due to his criminal past.

Security authorities had gathered intelligence indicating that Segev was maintaining contacts with Iranian intelligence and assisting them in their activities against Israel. The Israel police subsequently requested his extradition to Israel, where he was arrested upon his arrival for questioning by the Shin Bet.