Saudi Arabian authorities Tuesday said they had evidence that 18 people arrested last week on suspicion of spying were working for Iran, DPA reported.
"Initial investigations, material evidence that has been collected, and the statements made by the accused in the case reveal that the members of the cell were in direct contact with the Iranian intelligence services," an Interior Ministry spokesman said in a statement released through the official Saudi Press Agency.
The spokesman added that "they repeatedly received sums of money in return for information and documents on important sites in an espionage operation on behalf of those agencies."
Saudi Arabia last week announced that it had arrested 16 Saudi nationals as well as an Iranian and a Lebanese citizen on suspicion of spying for an unnamed foreign country.
On Sunday Iran dismissed the Saudi claims, saying they were "merely for domestic consumption."