Iran's intelligence minister says as many as 80 organizations have been established in the United States for the sole purpose of attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic government, PressTV reported.
These 80 organizations are actively operating in the United States with an estimated annual budget of 2 billion dollars," said the Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi, adding that "there are numerous like-minded institutions and agencies inside and outside of Iran, whose missions are mainly focused on toppling the Islamic establishment in the country."
"The enemies of the Islamic Republic have always been involved in hatching long-term plans over the past 19 years as part a "soft war" against the Iranian nation and in doing so they have allocated more than $17.7 billion in order to stage a coup against the sacred establishment of the Islamic Republic," IRNA quoted the intelligence minister as saying on Thursday.
Moslehi made the remarks during a religious seminar in the holy city of Qom following his announcement that the Islamic Republic has taken into custody some of the perpetrators of the recent terrorist attacks that killed an Iranian academic.
On Monday, unknown terrorists detonated bombs in cars belonging Dr. Majid Shahriari and Professor Fereydoun Abbasi-- both lecturers at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran-- killing the former and injuring the latter along with his wife who were transferred to a nearby hospital.
Moslehi has stated that the three spy agencies of Mossad, CIA and MI6 were involved in the attacks.
On October 28, MI6 chief John Sawers accused Iran of pursuing clandestine nuclear activities, insisting that espionage operations were crucial in impeding Iran's nuclear program.
Last week, the European Parliament issued a declaration, urging Washington to remove the anti-Iran terrorist MKO group from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The European Union took the MKO off its blacklist in 2009. The terrorist group, notorious for its indiscriminate terror attacks against Iranian civilians and officials, has been on the US terror list since 1997.