Shin Bet Unloads Iran's Spy Network Operating In Israel

Illustration. (Pixabay/peterbwiberg)

JAKARTA - Israeli security forces managed to dismantle a network of spies suspected to be within Israel working in the name of Iranian intelligence, the latest spy group in weeks to be announced, the Shin Bet and Israeli police said on Thursday.

An Israeli husband and wife from Lod City near Tel Aviv were arrested for gathering intelligence on national infrastructure and security locations, including the Mossad spy agency headquarters, as well as surveillance of a female academic, the Shin Bet security agency and police said.

The network is part of Iran's efforts to recruit people from the Kaukasus region, they said.

"These incidents have joined a string of thwarted attempts, which have been revealed in recent weeks, in which Israeli nationals were arrested for working on behalf of Iranian intelligence agents and carrying out special missions on their behalf," a Shin Bet source said. November 1.

The investigation shows the couple was tasked with tracking academic targets at Israel's Institute of National Security Studies (INSS) think tank, which Iran wants to physically injure, a joint statement by police and Shin Bet added.

The suspect was separately asked by Iran to search for killers for separate missions. Others, who are from Azerbaijan, were also recruited by one of the couples for certain tasks, the statement said.

INS said they were grateful the security services had prevented a planned attack on one of its employees.

"Although INS is an independent research institute, not part of an Israeli defense agency, this institution is a leading security research institute in the country, and therefore, Iran is trying to injure its people," said INSS Director Tamir Hayman.

Israel's central district attorney's office will file a heavy charge against the suspects on Thursday, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

Earlier, Israeli security forces said earlier this month they had dismantled two separate spy networks on behalf of Iran in Jerusalem and northern Israel.

Israel itself is known to have a history of intelligence operations in Iran, which allegedly included the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a political leader of the Palestinian Hamas group at Tehran's state guest guest home in July. Israel did not claim responsibility for the killing.