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After multi-pronged Iranian attack against Israelis thwarted in Turkey, highest level warning considered

The Iranian plot involved multiple Iranian terrorist cells that were planning to carry out several attacks, including abductions and shooting sprees.

By World Israel News Staff 

A multi-pronged, coordinated Iranian attack targeting Israeli tourists in Turkey was foiled by Israeli and Turkish security agencies last month, prompting the National Security Council to debate tightening travel warnings to the highest level, Israeli media reported on Sunday.

The Iranian plot involved multiple Iranian terrorist cells that were planning to carry out several attacks, including abductions and shooting sprees, Ynet news reported.

A source close to the matter told Ynet: “In light of this intelligence, it would be best for Israelis not to fly [to Turkey] at this time and canceling vacations [there].”

Senior Israeli officials confirmed earlier that the Mossad spy agency, together with Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), had thwarted a massive attack planned by Iranians against Israeli targets on Turkish soil.

Last month, the National Security Council revised its travel warning for Turkey, saying there was a concrete threat to Israelis by “Iranian terrorist operatives” there and in nearby countries.

The warning came amid concerns of a retaliatory attack following the assassination of the deputy commander of an elite unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, which Iran blamed on Israel. Khodaei was said to have been planning attacks against Israelis.

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The National Security Council at the time called on the Israeli public to remain vigilant and adhere to the necessary precautionary rules when traveling to the countries in question. Now the council is mulling issuing an unequivocal recommendation not to travel to Turkey for any reason, the report said.

In addition to Khodaei, three other Iranian officials have died under mysterious circumstances in Iran over the past month.

Col. Ali Esmailzadeh’s was a colleague of Khodaei in the Quds Force’s Unit 840, a shadowy unit in charge of terrorist operations against Israeli and Western targets overseas.

Iran International, a London-based Iranian opposition website, charged that the IRGC had murdered Esmailzadeh after he had allegedly provided intelligence leading to the Khodaei’s assassination.

All state-affiliated outlets in Iran have reported his death, allegedly from falling off his roof, as either an accident or suicide. The IRGC did not issue any statement following his death, and his funeral took place in his home province of Hamedan under a media blackout as opposed to in Tehran, marking a departure of protocol for an officer of his rank.

Aerospace scientist Ayoob Entezari also died last week under baffling circumstances, according to Iranian reports. Entezari, who worked on developing missiles and drones, died after suffering a bout of food poisoning at a dinner he attended. The man who hosted the dinner has since fled Iran, Israeli media reports alleged.

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Iranian journalists last week published photos of Entezari showing former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani around his place of work at Iran’s Ghadir Industrial Turbines Company (GITCO) in 2019.