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Georgia foiled Iranian assassination plot against Israeli businessman

Caucasus republic says Pakistani assassin arrested as authorities break up Iranian-backed terror cell that targeted Israeli businessman.

By World Israel News Staff

An Iranian-backed plot to murder an Israeli businessman was foiled, authorities in the Republic of Georgia said Tuesday.

The Georgian State Security Service announced Tuesday afternoon that it had uncovered an Iranian terror cell operating in the country that was planning to assassinate an Israeli national.

Two people were arrested and a third cell member identified, authorities said.

The two suspects taken into custody included a man with dual Iranian and Georgian citizenship and a Pakistani national.

An Iranian national, who apparently organized the cell, was identified but not captured.

“Before arriving in Georgia, the Pakistani citizen was given the necessary instruction and was given information about the object of the murder,” State Security Service said.

“Later, the mentioned person arrived in Georgia through a third country, where he was met with a rented apartment and given the means of conspiracy connection.”

The Pakistani national, who was to have carried out the assassination, shadowed the Israeli man targeted by the cell, while others tied to the group provided him with firearms and ammunition, which was stored in several hidden caches.

Police confiscated weapons obtained by the terror cell, along with phones and other equipment.

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Georgian authorities say they are still working to identify and locate other suspects associated with the cell.

In July, an Iranian terror cell operating out of Turkey was broken up after local police foiled a plot to kidnap and murder Israelis.

Israel’s National Security Council has warned of Iran’s efforts to carry out a retaliatory attack against Israeli targets 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.

In addition to Khodaei, three other Iranian officials died under mysterious circumstances in Iran within a single month.