Iran Arrests Leader Of US-Based Opposition Group

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said Saturday it has arrested the ringleader of pro-monarchist group based in the United States.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said its forces have dealt a “heavy and serious blow” to a terrorist group based in the US, reported the Tasnim News Agency.

“Jamshid Sharmahd, the ringleader of the terrorist Tondar (Thunder) group, who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America, was arrested following a complicated operation, and is now in (our agents’) powerful hands,” said Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in the statement.

Reuters is reporting that Iran’s television showed a video of a blindfolded man identifying himself as Sharmahd, saying: “They needed explosives and we provided it.”

According to the Fars News Agency, Tondar claimed responsibility for the 2008 Shiraz explosion at the Hosseynieh Seyed al-Shohada in which 14 people, including children, were killed and 215 others were injured.