An Israeli involved in an Iranian assassination plot targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli government officials has been arrested.
On the 19th (local time), according to the Times of Israel, the Israeli police and intelligence agency Shin Bet announced in a joint statement that they had arrested an Israeli businessman on such charges. The police and Shin Bet stated that the suspect had illegally entered Iran twice and received money in exchange for carrying out missions such as assassination plots.
The suspect, who had lived in Turkiye for a long time, illegally entered Iran in May at the suggestion of a person he met through business relations and was proposed by Iranian intelligence officials to carry out tasks such as transporting firearms like pistols within Israel and taking photographs in public places to deliver.
He later re-entered Iran by land in August, during which Iranian intelligence officials requested assassination attacks on Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar.
He was also asked to transport Iranian funds, find Americans or Russians to assassinate Iranian dissidents in Europe, and recruit agents of Israel’s overseas intelligence agency Mossad as double agents for Iran.
Shin Bet stated that this assassination plan was devised as retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, in July. On July 31, Haniyeh, the top political leader of the Palestinian armed faction Hamas, was killed in an explosion in Tehran. Iran and Hamas identified Israel as the perpetrator and vowed retaliation.
Shin Bet claimed that before starting the assassination plan, the suspect demanded an advance payment of $1 million (approximately 1.3293 billion KRW). However, the Iranian side rejected this amount. During the suspect’s second entry into Iran, only 5,000 euros (approximately 7.42 million KRW) were handed over as a meeting participation fee, with a promise to contact later, according to the investigation.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
