Iran's intelligence ministry said on Wednesday it had arrested two European nationals for their alleged role in "the organization of insecurity" in the country, Iran's semi-official Students News Agency ISNA reported.
The pair were arrested for "for organizing chaos and social disorder aimed at destabilizing the country" in conjunction with foreign intelligence services, ISNA cited the ministry as saying, without giving further details.
Presiding over an economy crippled by US sanctions, Iranian rulers hace faced near-continuous protests by workers and government employees in recent months over high unemployment, inflation exceeding 40% and mismanagement.
Wednesday’s announcement by the intelligence ministry was made during the visit of EU envoy Enrique Mora.
Mora's visit comes as the nuclear deal talks in Vienna have stalled. The deal, which saw Tehran limit its enrichment for the lifting of economic sanctions, appear deadlocked over an Iranian demand for America to delist the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
Despite repeated Iranian claims that a separate deal would see billions of dollars in assets unfrozen and prisoners exchanged with America, the State Department has repeatedly said that no deal is imminent on either a prisoner swap or the nuclear deal.
