Iran said on Tuesday it has arrested 10 people linked to Mossad and that the Islamic republic had delivered the Israeli spy agency a "severe blow" after deeply infiltrating it.

Intelligence Minister Heyder Moslehi told reporters the arrests were the result of covert operations successfully carried out by the Iranian secret services.

"More than 10 people were arrested... we were able to identify their (Mossad contacts) and to infiltrate them," the cleric said.

"We were able to infiltrate the Zionist entity's apparatus...we were able to infiltrate deep into Mossad."

Moslehi's remarks come a day after reports that an alleged killer of senior Iranian nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, who was murdered last year, was trained in Israel .

Majid Jamali Fash, identified by Iran as "the main element" behind Ali Mohammadi's assassination, was quoted as saying late Monday on state television's website that he was trained by Israeli military officers.

Jamali Fash said he was briefed about Ali Mohammadi and "practised bombing in a base near Tel Aviv several times."

Moslehi said Jamali Fash was one of the members of the group arrested so far and linked to Mossad.

"We are still debriefing the network...and thank God we were able to give them (Mossad) a severe blow."

In January 2010, Ali Mohammadi, a professor of particle physics at prestigious Tehran University , was killed in a bomb attack outside his home which Iran blamed on "mercenaries" in the pay of Israel and the United States .

Iran has also accused the intelligence services of Israel , the U.S. and Britain of being behind bomb attacks against two top nuclear scientists on November 26.

Majid Shahriari, a senior scientist involved in Iran 's nuclear activities, was killed by a bomb placed against his car, while Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, another top nuclear expert, was wounded in a similar attack.

Western governments suspect Iran 's nuclear programme masks a drive for an atomic weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has steadfastly denied.

Israel and its ally the United States have not ruled out a military strike against Iran to stop its nuclear program.

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