TEHRAN -- Iran's Intelligence Minister Gholam Hussein Mohseni Ezheh'ee here on Wednesday said that 100 American and Israeli spies have been identified

Iran's intelligence minister said Iran had identified 100 people he described as U.S. and Israeli agents and said some were arrested trying to leave Iran to attend "spying" courses abroad, state TV reported on Thursday. Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has previously warned about a "velvet revolution" -- a supposed U.S. plot to use intellectuals and others inside the country to bring about "regime change." Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei was quoted by state television as saying Iran had "identified 100 American and Israeli spies at the Iranian border. They were planning to obtain military and political information within Iran." He did not give any nationalities and it was not clear to which border point he referred, but several Iranian activists and journalists in recent weeks have been detained or barred from leaving Iran at airports on the way to courses abroad. "We were able to identify and arrest all those who were leaving the country with the excuse of passing educational courses and with the aim of attending spying training courses," Mohseni-Ejei told a gathering of clerics in the city of Qom. In statement on Thursday from its New York headquarters, Human Rights Watch urged the Iranian government to lift foreign travel bans that prevented rights activists and journalists from attending international forums. "The Iranian government is effectively putting the country's civil society leaders under national house arrest," the group's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in the statement.The U.S. group cited the case of Hashem Aghajari, who the Iranian news agency ISNA reported had been stopped at an airport earlier this month on his way to attend a conference in the United States at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi told Reuters last month three Iranian journalists, all detained in January when they were leaving for a journalism training course in India, were facing trial in April for acting against national security. The three, who were also women's rights activists, have been released on bail, said Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Last year, Canadian-Iranian writer Ramin Jahanbegloo was detained for four months for alleged involvement in the "velvet revolution," unnerving many activists and government critics. He was also detained at an airport. Some Iranians working for non-governmental organizations say they are now more wary of traveling to conferences abroad for fear it could land them in trouble with the authorities. Rights groups often complain that Tehran imprisons pro-reform writers, journalists and intellectuals without due legal process. Iran routinely dismisses accusations of rights violations and says it does not hold any political prisoners.

He also said that the spies, who worked for CIA and Moussad, intended to gain access to Iran's military and political information. The minister also said that enemies have selected a number of Iranians inside the country and trained them in other countries, adding that his ministry has identified and arrested all the said agents of the US and Israeli intelligence services. Asked about the US invasion of Iran, he said according to the latest information and data collected by the Iranian intelligence forces inside and outside the borders, Washington does not intend to attack Iran and that the rumors about a likely raid on the Islamic Republic have all been intended to serve as a part of psychological operations.
Iran to Hit U.S. Interests if Attacked
By NASSER KARIMI / Associated Press Writer / TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- If the United States were to attack Iran, the country would respond by striking U.S. interests all over the world, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday. Speaking to a gathering of Iranian air force commanders, Khamenei said: ``The enemy knows well that any invasion would be followed by a comprehensive reaction to the invaders and their interests all over the world.'' Iranian leaders often speak of a crushing response to any attack. While the remarks are seen as an attempt to drum up national support, Iran's position on Iraq and its nuclear program have provoked more than usual international pressure in recent months. President Bush has ordered American troops to act against Iranians suspected of being involved in the Iraqi insurgency and has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf area as a warning to Iran. The U.N. Security Council has imposed sanctions because of Iran's refusal to cease uranium enrichment. ``Some people say that the U.S. president is not prone to calculating the consequences of his actions,'' Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television, ``but it is possible to bring this kind of person to wisdom. ``U.S. policymakers and analysts know that the Iranian nation would not let an invasion go without a response,'' Khamenei added. He also addressed rumors about his health - a subject that is rarely discussed openly in Iran. Last month, there was speculation his health had deteriorated seriously. ``Enemies of the Islamic system fabricated various rumors about death and health to demoralize the Iranian nation, but they did not know that they are not dealing with only one person in Iran. They are facing a nation,'' Khamenei said.