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The German government has acknowledged an increase in spying by Iranian intelligence agents on exiled Iranians living in Germany since the start of mass protests last year, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported on Saturday.

Nationwide unrest triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini last year has led to "increasing indications of possible spying on opposition events and individuals" in Germany, Berlin's federal government said in response to an information request from the left-wing Linke Party.

"Opposition groups and individuals… are considered by the rulers in Iran as a threat to the continued existence of the regime," the government said in its response.

It said the country's domestic intelligence service had identified 160 individuals with links to Germany as well as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

The newspaper cited the government as saying Revolutionary Guards' "extensive spying activities" are directed in particular against pro-Israeli and pro-Jewish targets in Germany.

Demonstrations that first erupted in September over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who had been placed in detention by police enforcing the Islamic Republic's strict restrictions on women's dress, have turned into the biggest protests in years.

(Reuters)