14 people, 13 of them Israeli nationals, were arrested, accused of taking photographs of strategic targets and planning murders. The Israeli authorities speak of an “extraordinary event.”
Israeli authorities have detained 14 people on suspicion of spying for Iran, in what they describe as “one of the most serious cases they have ever investigated.” The suspects spent two years collecting information on Israeli military bases and officials, which they passed on to Tehran’s secret services, and were accused of “aiding the enemy in time of war”. They also had plans to assassinate an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and his son, a scientist and a mayor, Haaretz reports.
This operation included the dismantling of two different cellswith similar modes of operation. Seven Israeli citizens, immigrants from Azerbaijan and residents of Haifa and other cities in northern Israel were arrested on Monday. In this group there were two minors, 16 and 17 years old. The second seven detainees are Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, aged between 19 and 23 years and without criminal records. Six of them also have Israeli citizenship and the last is a permanent resident. In both groups, a middleman contacted one man and was responsible for recruiting the six remaining members.
The seven Israelis detained on Monday are accused of carrying out 600 and 700 missions to Iran in two years, under the direction of two Iranian intelligence agents. Missions included tracking and collecting information on IDF commanders as well as bases and other military infrastructure. The suspects also had plans to kill an Air Force commander and his son, which were detected by the Israeli security services, the Shin Bet, and shared with the Israeli police, the newspaper said. Three of the men were detained while photographing strategic installations in southern Israel.
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The military bases that were under Iranian surveillance included those that were targeted by Tehran’s attack in April, presumably to “analyze the extent of the damage caused.” Israeli citizens received payments of thousands of dollars For these tasks, they received money through Russian tourists, who worked as intermediaries, or digitally. The local police chief said they completed around four missions a day and were “addicted to the money” they earned by completing these tasks.
The night the “shadow war” between Iran and Israel came one step closer to becoming an open war
The activities of the second cell were similar. In addition to taking photographs of locations defined by Iranian agents, in exchange for money, authorities found two assassination plots: one aimed at an Israeli nuclear scientist and the other “at the mayor of a large city in central Israel.” On another mission, which was never completed, one of the men was in charge of throwing a grenade at an agent of the Israeli security services, reports the Times of Israel.
The arrest of these 14 people is the fifth case of espionage for Iran intercepted by the Shin Bet this month. “It is an extraordinary event in every sense. No other terrorist cell has operated in such a systematic and consistent manner. for such a long period. “This is very serious and deeply worrying,” said a police officer quoted by Haaretz.
Source: Observadora
