Iranian authorities say they have arrested dozens of people accused of spying for Israel across several provinces, according to state media reports over the weekend.

Fars, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported Sunday the West Azerbaijan prosecutor’s office had arrested 20 individuals in the northwestern city of Urmia for allegedly providing Israel with information about military, police and security sites.

On Saturday, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence said it had arrested several “enemy operatives” across the country, including a 10-member group in Mazandaran province and another 10-member network in Khorasan Razavi province, according to Tasnim, a semi-official news agency.

Authorities said the suspects transferred the locations of military installations and economic infrastructure and shared coordinates of public places, academic institutions and research centers with Israel.

IRANIAN REGIME SPREADING ANTI-ISRAEL PROPAGANDA ACROSS DOZENS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: REPORT

In southern Khuzestan province, intelligence officials also reported arresting a three-person “terrorist team” accused of carrying out armed attacks against security forces and government facilities. 

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Israel has relied on tips from ordinary Iranians to identify targets for strikes inside Iran, citing a senior Israeli security official.

The newspaper said information about potential targets is sent through Israeli Persian-language social media accounts and is verified by Israeli authorities before strikes are carried out.

CIA URGES IRANIANS TO USE BURNER PHONES, TOR TO CONTACT US IN PERSIAN-LANGUAGE VIDEO

In a separate development, Bahraini authorities said Sunday they arrested five people accused of passing sensitive information to the IRGC and helping recruit operatives for potential attacks inside the country.

According to a statement from Bahrain’s Police Media Center, the suspects allegedly collected and transmitted coordinates and images of sensitive locations, including hotels, to the IRGC.

IRANIAN REGIME SPREADING ANTI-ISRAEL PROPAGANDA ACROSS DOZENS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS: REPORT

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Officials said one suspect previously received training at IRGC camps in “trafficking persons and recruiting operatives to participate in implementing terrorist plots.”

The five detainees were referred to Bahrain’s Public Prosecution, while a sixth suspect identified in the case is believed to be a fugitive abroad.

The Palestinian presenter delivered the network’s first-ever bulletin when it went on air in 1996.

Al Jazeera Arabic presenter Jamal Rayyan, the first face ever seen on the channel when it launched nearly three decades ago, has died at the age of 73.

Rayyan passed away on Sunday after a broadcasting career spanning more than five decades, during which he covered major global and regional events for the channel – from the United States wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Arab Spring.

He had been with Al Jazeera since its first day on air on November 1, 1996, when he presented the channel’s opening bulletin at the start of what would become a major broadcaster in the Arab world.

Born in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank in 1953, the Palestinian presenter began his career at Jordanian Radio and Television in 1974 before working with several broadcasters in the region and beyond, including Emirati television, South Korean public broadcasting, and BBC Arabic.

Rayyan later recalled being sworn to secrecy after being quietly selected for the historic role.

“The vice chairman of the board came and said to me, ‘You have been chosen to be the first face on Al Jazeera, but we want one thing from you: do not tell anyone,’” he told Al Jazeera’s In-Depth Studies, a collection of testimonies from the channel’s founders and early staff.

Measured delivery, distinctive voice

The announcement that Rayyan was presenting the first bulletin was made public half an hour before airtime. He entered the studio deliberately on an empty stomach, he recalled, to ensure he could breathe well and deliver.

“As the broadcast started, my heart began beating rapidly. However, after I appeared on the screen and said, ‘Welcome to the first broadcast of Al Jazeera channel,’ I returned to my natural state and finished the broadcast. As soon as I finished and exited the studio, the entire room erupted in applause,” Rayyan said.

He spent nearly three decades as one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable presenters, building a following of 2.3 million on X.

Over the years, Rayyan became a familiar presence in homes across the Arab world, his measured delivery and distinctive voice closely associated with Al Jazeera’s news bulletins.

In the Arab world and beyond, his broadcasts and the channel’s editorial approach reached wide audiences and helped shape regional news coverage in the years that followed.