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Seven people arrested in Jerusalem accused of planning assassination of Israeli officials with Iran

Israeli security forces have arrested seven Jerusalem residents accused of plotting to assassinate Israeli officials and carry out other attacks on behalf of Iran’s intelligence service, the Shin Bet (Israeli counter-intelligence service) and police said.

According to the above statement, this is the fifth case involving assassination attempts directed by Iranian intelligence that have been foiled by Israeli security services in the last month. Seven suspects, residents of the majority-Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Saffa in Jerusalem, planned to carry out the assassination of a high-ranking Israeli scientist and the mayor of a major Israeli city, according to the statement, which was not identified. “Scientists and mayors, as well as high-ranking members of the security establishment and other senior Israeli officials, are targets of attacks by Iranian elements,” a senior Shin Bet source said separately, citing information from security intelligence services. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has not yet commented on this matter.

According to the statement, the investigation by the security services also revealed that the suspects were accused of blowing up a police vehicle and throwing a grenade at a house with the promise of receiving 200,000 shekels (49,000 euros at the exchange rate). One of the suspects, a 23-year-old man, was in contact with a foreign entity. The man later recruited a group of helpers, who set fire to a vehicle in Jerusalem graffiti Collected intelligence in Israel at several locations and at the direction of Iranian officials abroad.

During searches of the suspects’ homes, security forces found 50,000 shekels (12,273 euros) in cash, a fake license plate of a police car, and several credit cards. His detention has been extended until October 24 and the Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s Office is expected to file charges for “serious security crimes,” according to the statement.

On Monday, Israeli security services said they had dismantled a spy network that followed another arrest in September of an Israeli citizen suspected of being involved in an Iranian-backed assassination plot against prominent people, including the prime minister. Used to gather information for Iranian intelligence. Israel has a long history of intelligence operations in Iran, including the alleged assassination of Ismail Haniya, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in a Tehran state guesthouse in July. Israel has not taken responsibility for that murder. (Reuters)