Qatar Reports Dismantling Two Iran-Linked Covert Cells

(MENAFN) Qatar has dismantled two covert cells operating on its soil and linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Gulf state announced late Tuesday, in a dramatic security sweep that netted 10 suspects amid rapidly escalating regional tensions.

State security forces moved in following extensive surveillance operations, with the arrests confirmed in a report by a state-run news agency.

According to QNA, seven of the detained individuals had been dispatched on espionage assignments, tasked specifically with collecting intelligence on “vital and military facilities” within Qatar. The remaining three had been recruited for sabotage operations and had undergone specialist training in the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

In addition to the arrests, authorities confiscated the precise locations and coordinates of sensitive installations, along with an array of communication devices and advanced technological equipment. Qatari officials concluded their announcement by urging the public to stay alert and promptly flag any suspicious behavior to the relevant security bodies.

A Region on the Edge
The bust comes days after US and Israeli forces launched a sweeping large-scale offensive against Iran on Saturday — strikes that have so far killed nearly 800 people, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior military commanders.

Tehran has since retaliated with sustained drone and missile barrages against both Israel and Gulf states hosting American military assets — casting a long shadow of instability across the entire region and raising urgent questions about the security of US-aligned nations, including Qatar, which hosts one of Washington’s most strategically vital military installations in the Middle East.

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