CARACAS — Two Spaniards, three US citizens and a Czech have been arrested in Venezuela on suspicion of links to alleged plans to destabilize the South American country, a top Venezuela official said on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said “a US military member” had been detained in Venezuela and that it was aware of unconfirmed reports of two additional US citizens being detained there, but rejected a Venezuelan claim of US involvement in any plot to overthrow the government.

The Venezuelan announcement is likely to deepen the country’s already substantial tensions with Spain and the United States after Venezuela’s disputed presidential election in July.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello in a press conference said two Spaniards were allegedly linked to Spain’s secret service and planning the assassination of a mayor.

Spanish media reported that Spain’s government denied this claim.

Mr. Cabello also accused three US citizens and a Czech of involvement in terrorist acts, including alleged plans to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other officials.

“These groups seek to seize the country’s wealth, and we as a government will respond firmly to any destabilization attempt,” Mr. Cabello said. He added that about 400 rifles originating in the United States had been seized.

The State department said the US was not involved in an attempt to oust Mr. Maduro.

“Any claims of US involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false,” the spokesperson said. “The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.”

“We are seeking additional information. We are closely monitoring the situation,” the official added, while declining to provide additional details due to privacy considerations.

A Spanish foreign ministry source told Reuters it was asking Venezuela for more information.

“The Spanish embassy has sent a verbal note to the Venezuelan government asking for access to the detained citizens in order to verify their identities and their nationality and in order to know what they are accused of exactly,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Spanish nationals were detained while taking photographs in the town of Puerto Ayacucho, Mr. Cabello said.

“These citizens have links — we know they will say no, that it is a lie — they have links with the center,” Mr. Cabello said, referring to Spain’s intelligence arm.

“Spain will decide what to do, if it is going to keep meddling in Venezuela’s affairs.”

Venezuela recalled its ambassador to Spain this week for consultations and summoned the Spanish ambassador to appear at the foreign ministry after a Spanish minister accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship,” escalating diplomatic tensions following a disputed presidential election.

Venezuela was also angered by the decision of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to meet with Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who went into exile in Spain last week after being threatened with arrest by Mr. Maduro’s regime.

Caracas also has had fresh tensions with the United States, which recognized opposition candidate Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the July 28 election. — Reuters

SEOUL — Photos of North Korea’s its uranium enrichment facility may show an undeclared site for building nuclear bombs just outside of its capital, analysts said.

North Korea for the first time showed images on Friday of the centrifuges that produce fuel for its nuclear bombs, as leader Kim Jong Un visited a uranium enrichment facility and called for more weapons-grade material to boost the arsenal.

The photos showed Mr. Kim walking between long rows of metal centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. The report did not mention the facility’s location.

North Korea watchers and analysts said the site, known as Kangson, is suspected to be a covert uranium enrichment plant.

Jeffrey Lewis, a non-proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said five images of the inside facility, including of the “big” hall and an annex released by state media, match features of satellite imagery of the nuclear site.

The annex’s odd shape and it unusual set of columns and beams are a “strong match” to the site North Korea constructed this year, he said.

“That’s likely Kangson. It is an enrichment plant,” Mr. Lewis added.

North Korea is believed to have several sites for enriching uranium.

Analysts say commercial satellite imagery has shown construction in recent years at the main Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center and the Kangson site, suggesting possible expansion in both places.

Colin Zwirko, a senior analytical correspondent with NK Pro, a Seoul-based website that monitors North Korea, said the photos and satellite imagery indicate the complex is Kangson.

In June, Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general, said a new annex to the main building in the Kangson complex was being built this year, adding that the complex shared “infrastructure characteristics with the reported centrifuge enrichment facility at Yongbyon.”

During the visit that was covered by North Korean media, Kim stressed the need to boost the number of centrifuges to “exponentially increase” the nuclear arsenal, and expand the use of a new type of centrifuge to strengthen the production of weapon-grade nuclear materials.

The photos that showed an advanced design of centrifuges and the hall with cascades connecting the centrifuges suggested the North Korea had made progress in uranium enrichment program, according to experts.

“The size of the cascades and hall shown also signify substantial capacity, perhaps not to the level of ‘exponential growth’ as Mr. Kim has mandated, but significant growth, nonetheless,” 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea monitoring program, said in a note.

“It is probable that these centrifuges are North Korean designed and manufactured,” it said, adding that the location showed in the photos could be Yongbyon.

The disclosure of its secretive nuclear facility could also be meant to influence the US election and send a message to the next administration that denuclearization is no longer possible, some experts said. — Reuters