Iran says people arrested in nuclear site are "thieves" not " saboteurs"

Four people arrested earlier this month, who were accused of carrying out sabotage in one of Iran's nuclear establishments, were "thieves" not "saboteurs", Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said on Wednesday.

"The four (arrested) people were not saboteurs," said Alavi, adding that they were trying to sneak into a nuclear facility "to collect scraps of iron and steel to sell in the market. "

The Iranian minister did not specify which nuclear facility they were trying to penetrate, but he said that they were villagers and had a record of doing such things, semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) chief, Ali- Akbar Salehi, said that the Islamic republic had arrested four people who attempted to carry out sabotage in one of the country's nuclear establishments.

Over the past years, Iran has been the target of numerous cyber attacks which aimed to disrupt the country's nuclear systems.