Iran said on Tuesday it has arrested 10 people linked to Mossad and that the Islamic republic had delivered the Israeli spy agency a "severe blow" after deeply infiltrating it.

Intelligence Minister Heyder Moslehi told reporters the arrests were the result of covert operations successfully carried out by the Iranian secret services.

"More than 10 people were arrested... we were able to identify their (Mossad contacts) and to infiltrate them," the cleric said.

"We were able to infiltrate the Zionist entity's apparatus... we were able to infiltrate deep into Mossad."

Moslehi's remarks come a day after reports that an alleged killer of senior Iranian nuclear scientist Masoud Ali Mohammadi, who was murdered last year, was trained in Israel.

Majid Jamali Fash, identified by Iran as "the main element" behind Ali Mohammadi's assassination, was quoted as saying late Monday on state television's website that he was trained by Israeli military officers.

Jamali Fash said he was briefed about Ali Mohammadi and "practised bombing in a base near Tel Aviv several times."

Moslehi said Jamali Fash was one of the members of the group arrested so far and linked to Mossad.

"We are still debriefing the network... and thank God we were able to give them (Mossad) a severe blow."

In January 2010, Ali Mohammadi, a professor of particle physics at prestigious Tehran University, was killed in a bomb attack outside his home which Iran blamed on "mercenaries" in the pay of Israel and the United States.

Iran has also accused the intelligence services of Israel, the United States and Britain of being behind bomb attacks against two top nuclear scientists on November 26.

Majid Shahriari, a senior scientist involved in Iran's nuclear activities, was killed by a bomb placed against his car, while Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, another top nuclear expert, was wounded in a similar attack.

Western governments suspect Iran's nuclear programme masks a drive for an atomic weapons capability, an ambition Tehran has steadfastly denied.

Israel and its ally the United States have not ruled out a military strike against Iran to stop its nuclear programme.

earlier related report
Russia still studying Iranian nuclear offer
Moscow (AFP) Jan 11, 2011 - Russia on Tuesday said it was considering Iran's invitation to tour its nuclear facilities but still needed several questions answered before deciding whether to accept.

In Russia's first official comments on the invitation, which was forwarded January 4 to Russia, China, Egypt, Cuba and rotating EU president Hungary, a senior foreign ministry official called the offer a positive step.

"We received this initiative with interest," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Interfax.

"We believe that the Iranian side has thus demonstrated its readiness to move toward a certain dialogue on this important subject."

But Ryabkov added that Russia had "several counter-questions that we are now discussing with our Iranian partners."

The official did not specify what those unresolved points related to, saying only that he hoped they would "help remove the international community's concerns" about the Iranian nuclear programme.

"We have not yet reached our decision," Ryabkov added.

The Iranian move was immediately dismissed as "antics' by the United States, which along with Britain, France and Germany, was not invited.

The European Union responded by noting that it was up to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out such visits.

Iran and Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany are to meet for another round of talks on Tehran's atomic programme in Istanbul on on January 21-22.

The previous round of talks, after a 14-month hiatus, was held in Geneva on December 6-7.

earlier related report
Iran confirms nuclear talks set for Jan 21, 22
Tehran (AFP) Jan 11, 2011 - Iran confirmed on Tuesday that Tehran and the six world powers have agreed to hold another round of nuclear talks on January 21 and 22 in Istanbul.

The talks are aimed at resolving a dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, which world powers fear is masking a weapons drive but which Tehran insists is entirely for peaceful purposes.

"January 21 and 22... the 1st and 2nd of (Persian month of) Bahman ... has been agreed by the two parties," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had confirmed the two dates on Saturday.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the six world powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany -- in the talks, had suggested January 20 for the resumption of negotiations.

The previous round of talks took place in Geneva on December 6 and 7, ending a 14-month hiatus in negotiations focused on Iran's uranium enrichment programme.

Iran's nuclear programme has grown under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, attracting four rounds of UN sanctions and other unilateral punitive measures from various countries, including the United States.