Iranians are said to have planned attacks on Israelis in Istanbul

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Security precautions at the Blue Mosque, popular with tourists in Istanbul

Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFP

It was a drastic request from the Israeli authorities: Israelis should leave Istanbul immediately, they said last week - there was a risk of attacks by Iranian forces.

According to consistent reports in the Turkish media, five Iranians who are said to have planned terrorist attacks on Israelis have now been arrested.

This was reported by the DHA news agency and the Habertürk broadcaster, among others.

Task forces searched apartments and hotels in Istanbul on Wednesday and confiscated digital material and two pistols with silencers, the reports said.

The secret service had been monitoring the suspects for a long time.

On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Jair Lapid arrived in Turkey for talks with his counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Lapid said a plan to harm Israelis was foiled thanks to the work of Turkish authorities.

In the past few weeks, the lives of Israeli citizens have been saved thanks to diplomatic cooperation between Israel and Turkey.

Lapid's visit is seen as a further step in the rapprochement between the two countries.

In May, with the visit of Izchak Herzog, an Israeli President traveled to Turkey for the first time in ten years.

The once close allies Turkey and Israel fell out in 2010 after ten Turkish citizens were killed when the Israeli navy stormed a Gaza solidarity ship.

In 2016 there was a first rapprochement.

However, since the Gaza crisis in 2018, which escalated around the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, the two countries no longer have ambassadors in each other's countries.

ulz/dpa/AP