Kuwait�s Interior Ministry says the country�s coast guard has arrested 10 Iranians accused of trying to "infiltrate into the country."

In a statement carried by the state-run Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Sunday, the ministry claimed the Iranians had sought to sneak into the country via the coastal region of Abul-Hasaniyah.

The ministry added that one Iranian had been injured during the arrest operation and posted a photo online of nine men on their knees with their hands behind their backs.

It said the arrested Iranians had been �referred to relevant legal authorities.�

On Saturday, the commander of Iran�s coast guards base in southern Bushehr province, Lieutenant Colonel Amin Khosravi, described the Iranians as fishermen, saying they �had been arrested due to an altercation that had broken out in Kuwait and not border violation,� Fars News Agency reported.

Kuwait�s court of appeals last month upheld the death sentence for a Kuwaiti citizen called Hasan Abdulhadi Ali who was allegedly convicted of "spying for Iran� as part of a cell accused of trying to destabilize the Persian Gulf country.

On July 21, the court of appeals claimed that Abdulhadi Ali had been a member of the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, since 1996. He was found guilty of being �the mastermind of the cell� of 26 members, among them an Iranian, who had been accused of plotting �hostile acts� in Kuwait and possessing weapons.

The Iranian had also been sentenced to death by a lower court in January. However, the appeals court did not look into his case on Thursday as he is said to be on the run.

In a statement released last September, the Iranian embassy in Kuwait dismissed the accusations linking Tehran to the terror cell, saying a �systematic� campaign is underway to harm relations between neighboring states.

The Iranian diplomatic mission further expressed its �deep sorrow over the mentioning of Iran in an internal case in Kuwait that is basically related to the discovery of weapons and ammunition.�

At the time, Iran�s then deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, also dismissed as completely baseless the allegations leveled in Kuwait against the Islamic Republic.

By Press TV