Israel Arrests Seven Jerusalem Residents Related To Iranian Intelligence On Alleged Murder Plan

JAKARTA - Israeli security forces have arrested seven Jerusalem residents on charges of planning to kill Israeli officials and carry out other attacks on behalf of Iranian intelligence agencies, Shin Bet and police said on Tuesday.

The incident is the fifth case involving an attempted assassination directed by Iranian intelligence that Israel's security agency has thwarted in the past month, a joint police and Shin Bet statement said.

Seven suspects, residents of the Beit Safafa neighborhood in Jerusalem, mostly inhabited by Palestinians, plan to kill a senior Israeli scientist and mayor of an unnamed large Israeli city, the statement said.

"Illustrators and mayors, as well as senior members of Israel's security agencies and senior officials, were targeted by Iranian elements," said senior Shin Bet sources separately, citing information from security agencies.

Iran's Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on Tuesday.

An investigation by the security agency also determined that the suspects were also tasked with detonating a police vehicle and throwing grenades at a house with the promise of accepting 200,000 shields, the statement said.

One of the suspects, 23 years old, was in contact with a foreign entity. The person then recruited a group of aides who set fire to a vehicle in Jerusalem, sprayed graffiti at various locations and gathered intelligence information in Israel at the direction of Iranian officials abroad.

During a search of the suspects' homes, security forces found 50,000 shields (USD 13.240) in cash, fake police car number plates, and various credit cards.

Their detention was extended until October 24 and the indictment is expected to be submitted by the Jerusalem district attorney's office for "serious security breach", the statement said.

On Monday, Israel's security agency said it had dismantled a network of spies gathering information for Iranian intelligence, which followed a separate arrest in September of an Israeli citizen suspected of involvement in an Iranian-backed assassination plot against prominent people including the prime minister.

Israel has a long history of intelligence operations in Iran, which allegedly included the murder of Ismail Haniyeh in July, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas at the Tehran country's guest house. Israel does not claim responsibility for the killing.