Israel deports Jewish Iranian accused of spying for Tehran
Israel's Shin Bet security agency apprehended a Jewish Iranian man on Friday at Ben-Gurion International Airport for allegedly attempting to spy for the ayatollah regime’s Iranian intelligence service.
The unnamed man, who has relatives living in Israel, was deported after admitting that he was sent to spy against Israel. Since Iran and Israel currently do not have diplomatic relations, the Iranian citizen was sent via a third country.
Israeli intelligence revealed that the man was equipped with an empty tissue box for hiding surveillance equipment.
“It is estimated that these means were handed to him in order to carry out secret espionage on targets in Israel,” the Shin Bet said.
“This incident is part of a broad Iranian effort to establish espionage and terror [networks] in Israel, alongside the influence on the internet to widen social divides,” the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) added.
However, intelligence assessed that the man did not succeed in doing anything before being deported.
“He was stopped before he could do anything. And this is in addition to other operative considerations,” the official added.
The Iranian regime has invested resources in trying to recruit Israeli citizens to spy on behalf of Tehran against Israel. In January 2022, the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) arrested five Israeli nationals who had reportedly been recruited by Tehran to spy against the Jewish state. The five Israelis were reportedly of Iranian Jewish descent.
“This is a serious case, in which there was the intention to establish a spy network for Iran, operating within the State of Israel,” Shin Bet concluded.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
