Iran Detains Journalists Outside Tehran

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's Intelligence Ministry detained several journalists outside of the capital city for allegedly receiving money from abroad, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday. The ministry said in a statement that the journalists, who were arrested in an unspecified province, allegedly confessed that they had received money from abroad to publish materials deemed against national security interests, according to IRNA. The news agency did not say how many journalists were arrested or exactly where the arrests occurred but referred to the journalists as "separatists." The state-run agency also accused the U.S. as being behind plots to "sow discord among various ethnic groups" in Iran. Tehran has been accusing the United States of backing militants in an effort to destabilize the country after a car bombing by a Sunni Muslim extremist group last month killed 11 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in southeastern Iran. Tensions between Tehran and Washington are growing over allegations of Iranian involvement in attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and over Iran's controversial nuclear activities.