Qatar announces arrest of Iran’s IRGC sleeper cells

Qatar has announced the arrest of what it called two cells operating for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Ten suspects were arrested in the cells, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) announced on Tuesday. Seven had been assigned to spy on “vital and military facilities” in Qatar, while three were tasked with carrying out sabotage operations.

“During interrogation, the suspects admitted their affiliation with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and that they had been tasked with espionage missions and sabotage activities,” QNA reported.

Qatari authorities have found locations and coordinates of sensitive facilities and installations, as well as communication devices and technological equipment in their possessions, the report said.

Iran has launched multiple attacks on Qatar and other Gulf Arab states, saying it was targeting US assets in the countries, but the civilian infrastructure, including airports and hotels, were hit.

Dozens of explosions have been reported in Qatar over the past few days, and its Ministry of Defence said it detected the launch of three cruise missiles, 101 ballistic missiles and 39 drones towards its airspace since Saturday.

While Qatar has intercepted and destroyed them, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it was caught off guard since Iran did not notify Doha of attacks.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told journalists that “Qatar was surprised by these unjustified attacks”.

“There were attempts to attack Hamad International Airport. They were all thwarted. … The missiles were downed by our defensive measures, and none of them reached the airport,” al-Ansari said.

The spokesperson added that almost 8,000 people were also stranded in Qatar due to airspace closures caused by the war.

On Tuesday, Oman, which had been mediating talks between Iran and the US before the conflict in the region began, pushed for a ceasefire.

Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr al-Busaidi said there are options for diplomacy to prevail and the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US to de-escalate.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has expressed solidarity with Gulf countries and blamed Iran for attacking countries, saying they have nothing to do with the conflict.