Cleared for publication: Jerusalem residents recruited by Iran for assassination mission

Seven Arabs aged 19 to 23, residents of Beit Hanina in Jerusalem, were arrested last month on suspicion of planning to eliminate a nuclear scientist and a mayor in central Israel.

The investigation revealed that an Iranian operative contacted Rami Alian, the main suspect, and offered him to carry out missions in exchange for payment.

Alian recruited six partners from his environment to carry out the missions, which included setting cars on fire in Ein Kerem, spraying graffiti, and throwing a grenade at the house of a security forces member. Ultimately, the target was a soldier known to the group of suspects, living in a nearby neighborhood.

The cell members received instructions to purchase weapons and grenades. The main mission the Iranian assigned them included gathering intelligence on one of the mayors in central Israel, as well as assassinating a senior nuclear expert. The young men prepared the necessary intelligence and contacted others to purchase weapons, but were arrested before they managed to complete their plans.

This is the second espionage story revealed in the last 24 hours. Yesterday it was allowed to publish that seven Jewish suspects, residents of Haifa and the north, including a deserter soldier and two minors, are suspected of being operated by Iranian agents and carrying out various missions for their operators.

Among other things, they are suspected of photographing and collecting information on bases and IDF military installations, including Air Force bases in Nevatim and Ramat David, the Kirya camp in Tel Aviv, Iron Dome battery sites, and more. They also received maps of strategic sites from the operators, including a Golani training base.

The suspects are Azaz Nisanov, Alexander Sedyakov, Yigal Nissan, Vyacheslav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yofa, and two minors whose names cannot be published. On Friday, the prosecution is expected to file an indictment against them in the Haifa District Court for a series of serious security offenses.

The State Prosecutor’s office emphasizes that this is one of the most serious cases investigated in recent years. The case has been closely monitored for several weeks by the head of the security team at the Haifa District Prosecutor’s Office, Attorney Sheli Barzilai-Zaavi and Attorney Einav Itzko Gold, as well as the Deputy State Prosecutor for Special Tasks, Alon Altman.

According to the facts that can be disclosed at this stage, the police and ISA investigation revealed that for over two years, the suspects carried out a series of different missions for an Iranian intelligence infrastructure, which worked to recruit Israeli citizens, under the guidance of two Iranian agents with whom they were in contact.