Saudi Arabia Arrests 18 On Spy Charges

Saudi Arabia Arrests 18 On Spy Charges

Saudi Arabia has arrested 18 people out of which two were foreign nationals, one an Iranian and one a Lebanese on grounds of spying.

This Tuesday, Mansour al-Turki spokesman for the Interior Ministry said on state television that 18 arrests were made under the suspicion of spying for another country. The identity of the 18 men wasn't revealed as investigations are still under way.

This espionage case could mark a rise in tensions between the Saudi nation and Iran, as the two countries struggle for influence across the Middle East.

The arrests were made almost four days ago, and the suspects were supervised and investigated even before that.

Tension between the two countries is nothing new as Shi’ite Iran and Sunni S. Arabia have been disagreeing on most issues since the Iranian revolution in 1979.

December was the last time relations between the countries were tense when a foreign located server hacked confidential files of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company.

The Shi’ite minority in S. Arabia has been consistently blamed for unrest in the region, especially as clashes with police in various regions of the country have soared in the last couple of years.

Saudi accusations also imply that the Shi’ite minority’s conflicts are caused and fueled by a foreign influence specifically Iran, even though the accusations were never made by public by the government of Saudi Arabia.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday March 20 2013, 3:10 AM EST. Ref: Reuters. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0