Iran's intelligence minister said on Saturday authorities had arrested several "nuclear spies" who were working to derail Tehran's nuclear programme through cyberspace.

Without saying how many people were arrested or when, Heydar Moslehi was quoted on state television's website as saying Iran had "prevented the enemies' destructive activity."

His remarks came against the backdrop of reports that the Stuxnet worm is mutating and wreaking havoc on computerised industrial equipment in Iran and had already infected 30,000 IP addresses.

But Moslehi said intelligence agents had discovered the "destructive activities of the arrogance (Western powers) in cyberspace, and different ways to confront them have been designed and implemented."

"I assure all citizens that the intelligence apparatus currently has complete supervision on cyberspace and will not allow any leak or destruction of our country's nuclear activities."

The website said Moslehi emphasised that his ministry was aware of the different activities of "enemies' spy services."

"We have always faced the destructive action of these (spy) services and a number of nuclear spies have been arrested," he said.

Stuxnet, which was publicly identified in June, is a self-replicating malware found lurking on Siemens systems, mostly in India, Indonesia and Pakistan, but the heaviest infiltration appears to be in Iran, researchers say.

Analysts say Stuxnet may have been designed to target Iran's nuclear facilities, especially the Russian-built first atomic power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.

Officials have denied that Bushehr was among the addresses penetrated by the worm, but acknowledged that some personal computers of the plant's personnel had been infected.

Iran's nuclear ambitions are at the heart of a conflict between Tehran and the West, which suspects the Islamic republic is seeking to develop atomic weapons under the cover of a civilian drive.

Tehran denies the allegation and is pressing on with its uranium enrichment programme -- the most controversial aspect of its nuclear activities -- despite four sets of UN Security Council sanctions.

earlier related report
ENI to leave Iran once contracts completed
Milan (AFP) Oct 1, 2010 - Italian energy giant ENI said Friday it will pull out of Iran once its contracts there are completed, following the approval of tough new energy and financial sanctions by the United States.

"ENI will leave Iran upon conclusion of its commercial contracts," a spokesman for ENI told AFP, without specifying a precise date.

The US State Department on Thursday said ENI, France's Total, Norway's Statoil and British-Dutch oil giant Shell had pledged to stop investing in Iran, making these companies eligible to avoid US sanctions.

Washington has accused Iran of financing a nuclear weapons programme using revenues from its large energy sector. Iran denies this and says it is engaged only in building up a nuclear energy sector for peaceful purposes.

ENI has investments in the Darquain oil field and the South Pars gas field.

The company last year produced 35,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from Iran, accounting for around two percent of the group's total production.

The Italian state holds a 30 percent stake in ENI.