TEHRAN — Reuters released a thorough investigative report on Thursday revealing that the CIA's flawed covert communications system made it easy for Iranian intelligence to identify and arrest spies.

In the report, Reuters pointed to these CIA mistakes and threw away its spies in Iran.

Continuing its report, citing news reports and three former U.S. national security officials, this news agency added that in 2009, during a counter-espionage operation by Iran, several American agents were arrested due to a series of mistakes by the CIA.

Reuters also points to a messaging platform that four former U.S. officials confirmed existed, which was hidden behind mainstream news and entertainment websites and was used by spies to communicate with the CIA until 2013.

According to this report, Iran was also able to identify spies in this way. These mistakes have continued for years, Reuters said.

“The CIA considers Iran one of its most difficult targets. Ever since Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, the United States has had no diplomatic presence in the country. CIA officers are instead forced to recruit potential agents outside Iran or through online connections. The thin local presence leaves U.S. intelligence at a disadvantage amid events such as the protests now sweeping Iran over the death of a woman arrested for violating the country’s religious dress code,” the report said.