The authorities of Israel They reported this Thursday the arrest of a man whose services Intelligence of Iran for the purpose of murder to the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahuaccording to the Israeli police. In addition, they indicate that they also tasked him with killing other senior state officials, including the defense minister. Yoav Gallant.
After arresting him in August on suspicion of “security crimes related to contacts with agents of the Iranian regime’s intelligence services,” authorities began an investigation thanks to which they were able to verify, they say, their contacts with Iran.
Apparently, he was a businessman who had lived in Türkiye and that this mainly concerned the Turkish and Iranian people. Thanks to his contacts, he agreed last April to meet a wealthy Turkish businessman -Eddy- living in Iranwith the mediation of two other Turkish citizens (Andrei Faruk and Junaid Aslan).
In the end, he did not meet him since he decided to stay in Iran, but he met two employees of the businessman in Samandag who gave him a phone so they could talk. After that, the detainee He moved to Iran hiding in a car meet the businessman.
At the meeting they held in Iran, Israeli officials say, they suggested that he carry out “various security missions in Israel in support of the Iranian regime. The missions included “transferring money or a firearm to certain locations,” “photographing locations in Israel and sending them to Iranian authorities,” or “threatening other Israeli citizens in Israel.”
“Assassination of the Prime Minister”
The detainee entered Iran irregularly for the second time in August to meet again with the businessman and “other intelligence officers” in the country, they said. It was during this second meeting that he was tasked with “carrying out terrorist activities in Israeli territory and which favored assassination of the prime ministerthe Minister of Defense or the head of the Shin Bet,” they emphasize.
They also raised the possibility of “assassinating other senior officials such as the Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other public figures” as “revenge for the murder of Ismail Haniyeh -head of the political branch of the terrorists Hamas– on Iranian territory in July 2024. For this work, the arrested man “requested a deposit of “a million dollars” (about 900,000 euros). They left for a later meeting during which they would discuss “the elimination of opponents of the Iranian regime in Europe and the United States” and the recruitment of “a Mossad Agent work as a double agent.
The detainee – Moti Maman, 73, a resident of Ashkelon – appeared before an Israeli court on Thursday. His lawyer said the man had committed “an error of judgment” and that he cooperates with the investigation.
“Declaration of war” according to Hezbollah
The news of his arrest coincides with the escalation of tensions between terrorists in Hezbollah and Israel. This Thursday, the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallahsaid he interprets the attack of the pagers and the walkie talkies In Lebanon like “a declaration of war from Israelwhich he accuses of being behind the explosions that killed at least 37 people between Tuesday and Wednesday, including terrorists of the organization and injured more than 3,000 people.
Hassan Nasrallah accused the Israelis of crossing “all red lines and restrictions.” He vowed to take revenge for the coup, for which Israel will receive “severe reprisals and just punishments: “The punishment will come. When, where, how? You will know when the time comes.
