Blaming below-par professionalism and negligence, U.S. intelligence officials confirmed this week that underground operatives supplying information from Hezbollah and Iran have been busted earlier this year.

In a report broadcasted by American news network ABC News on Monday, U.S. authorities admitted the crushing setbacks separately suffered by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Beirut and Tehran over the past six months, where dozens of paid informers recruited by intelligence officers have been rounded up by counter-intelligence agents.

In May, Iran announced the capture of at least 30 informants it accused of spying for both the United States and Israel while Hezbollah, an Islamic group tagged by America as a terror network mostly operating in Beirut, Lebanon, revealed in June the arrest of several individuals it claimed worked for the CIA.

Months after the reported espionage breakthroughs trumpeted by both Iran and Hezbollah, sources quoted by ABC News supported the claims, with details of the spy networks' operation even outlined during a news story carried by the Islamic Republic's official news agency.

According to Robert Baer, a former CIA officer who operated in Beirut in the 1980s, many of these informants would have been killed around this time, especially those caught spying against Hezbollah, a group he cited for its ferocity and ruthlessness in neutralising foreign agents within its territory.

"If they were genuine spies, spying against Hezbollah, I don't think we'll ever see them again ... These guys are very, very vicious and unforgiving," Baer told ABC News.

The news network also reported that one U.S. official with knowledge of the operations and their eventual discovery had conceded that recovering the operatives alive is next to impossible.

"Espionage is a risky business ... and many risks lead to wins, but some result in occasional setbacks," ABC quoted the intelligence officer as saying.

The U.S. official added that outdated tradecraft and lack of professionalism are the main culprits for the defeat, considered as one of the major setbacks suffered by CIA in years, with Baer noting that ground handlers need to take much of the blame for their sloppy works.

"If you lose an asset, one source, that's normally a setback in espionage ... but when you lose your entire station, either in Tehran or Beirut, that's a catastrophe, that just shouldn't be. And the only way that ever happens is when you're mishandling sources," Baer stressed.

Another intelligence consultant had conceded that the CIA may be losing its edge and allowed that "we've lost the tradition of espionage ... and officers take short cuts and no one is held accountable."

Against determined foes such as Iran and Hezbollah, such execution of work only invites disaster, Baer added, citing too the latter as a determined, formidable and complicated group that doubles as a social and political entity with popular support on its base of operation.