- Thieves took advantage of a national holiday on Sunday to breach the bank.
- They pried open a back door and took the contents of 168 leased safe boxes.
- Ten individuals were caught in Tehran and the north of Iran, while three others were detained in a neighbouring nation.
Iran judiciary announced Friday the arrest of 13 alleged robbers accused of stealing the contents of more than 160 safe boxes from a bank branch in the capital.
“Thirteen suspects in the robbery of Bank Melli were arrested, and large quantities of stolen property have been discovered,” Tehran’s chief prosecutor, Ali Salehi, stated, according to the judiciary’s Iran news agency.
Read more: Iran removing 27 U.N. cameras monitoring nuclear activity
They pried open a back door and took the contents of 168 leased safe boxes before fleeing and shutting the door behind them.
Ten individuals were caught in Tehran and the north of Iran, according to Salehi, while three others were detained in a neighbouring nation that he did not name.
“Large quantities of stolen property were discovered in a vehicle at Imam Khomeini International Airport,” he said.
Read more: Iran expects confiscated oil cargo to be returned in full – envoy
He told state television that “none of the bank’s staff were involved in the crime,” and that the bank had been notified of security flaws around a month ago.
The channel showed footage of people it claimed were held in Iran, clothed in jail garb and facing a judge.
