The Israeli foreign intelligence service, Mossad, announced on Thursday, June 29, that it had "apprehended" an Iranian who planned to kill an Israeli in Cyprus, and whose interrogation "on Iranian soil" allowed the Cypriot authorities to arrest several people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Sunday hailed an operation "that foiled an Iranian terror attack in Cyprus against Israeli targets," without giving details.
'Counter-terrorist operation'
The Cypriot authorities did not provide any information on the case, but local media, citing unidentified sources, reported a foiled plan to attack Israeli or Jewish targets, fomented by suspects operating from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a self-proclaimed entity in the north of the Mediterranean island, which Turkey is the only country to recognize.
According to the Mossad, an Iranian named Yusef Shahabazi Abbasalilu was "apprehended" during a "counter-terrorist operation on Iranian soil". During his interrogation, according to the Mossad, he confessed to having "received detailed instructions and weapons from senior officers of the Revolutionary Guards," the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, concerning an Israeli businessman he was to assassinate in Cyprus.
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'Permanent attempt'
A video released by the Mossad, which AFP could not identify, shows a man believed to be Yusef Shahabazi Abbasalilu giving details of his arrival in Cyprus and preparations to kill an Israeli with the help of "Pakistanis" who were on the island. The man then said he was ordered to return to Iran because Cypriot police were on his trail.
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In light of the information he provided to investigators, the cell was dismantled during an operation by the Cypriot security services," the Mossad added, reporting a "series of arrests in Cyprus last week." According to the Mossad, this operation highlighted "the ongoing attempt to carry out terrorist attacks and harm Israelis and Jews around the world." Benjamin Netanyahu recently claimed that the vast majority of Israel's "security problems" come "from Iran and its representatives."
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