The threat of a possible attack against targets in Turkey has not been completely removed, but the main point is already behind us: the members of the cell sent to carry out the attack have been arrested for the most part, and a sedation siren can be sounded in their arrest.
The whole event was a thriller in the Turkish version.
First, with targeted information that reached Israel, according to which the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence apparatus sent a cell to carry out an attack against Israeli targets in Istanbul.
This squad included foreign nationals recruited by the Iranians, as well as Turkish criminal elements - mostly drug smugglers.
Documentation of the Iranian squad that planned to abduct Israelis in Turkey
The information was immediately passed on to the Turks.
Hot lines have been opened between the defense systems and foreign ministries of the two countries.
The matter was raised to the top of the Israeli, and Turkish, intelligence agenda.
It was clear that this was an immediate matter of life and death.
That is why Israel also decided to ring an unusual bell: the prime minister, foreign minister and defense minister spoke and warned, the National Security Council issued warnings and the media received a flood of information intended to make it clear that this was an unusually serious and dangerous matter.
When they saw in Israel that most Israeli citizens were in no hurry to cooperate with the warnings to leave Turkey, they began personal appeals.
Israeli tourists and businessmen received phone calls from security officials urging them to leave Istanbul or at least travel around it as little as possible.
Some even advised to change hotels, to one of the hotels where there is a higher level of security.
The hotel where the terrorists stayed,
The Turks, for their part, deployed hundreds of security personnel in the affair.
Some of them were intelligence personnel and operatives who were on the hunt for members of the cell, and most of them were policemen who had thickened the security system around the tourist centers in Istanbul and in the hotels where the Israelis were allowed to stay.
Israel testified that Turkish cooperation was exceptional at all levels;
It teaches not only about the intimacy in the relations between the intelligence mechanisms of the two countries, but also about the determination of the Turks to ensure that their country does not serve as a ground for terrorism.
Last weekend, most of the squad members, including Iranian citizens, were arrested.
At the same time, Israel published the name and photo of the Iranian person in charge of the affair - the head of the intelligence apparatus, Hussein Tayeb.
Yesterday, Tayeb was fired;
His dismissal is likely to be linked to much of the embarrassment caused by the affair to the Iranians - an embarrassment that will intensify after the testimonies of the arrested cell members and their ties to Tehran are published.
"The cooperation has been exceptional at all levels, and also shows the determination of the Turks to ensure that their country does not serve as a ground for terrorism."
In place of Tayeb, Muhammad was appointed as Azmi, a veteran commander of the Revolutionary Guards, who would probably not be friendlier than his predecessor.
Presumably he will learn Tayeb's failures, and draw lessons from them for the next round - which is already around the corner.
Iran is more determined than ever to respond to the Israeli attacks on Syria and the elimination of senior officials in its territory, and it will continue to make every effort to take revenge.
The case that was successfully closed in Istanbul will soon be opened there or elsewhere;
Although the point attack was thwarted, the threat is alive and well.
Were we wrong?
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