Iranian Jewish man arrested at Israeli airport on suspicion of spying for Tehran

Israeli authorities say Iranian Jewish man confessed to planning to gather information in Israel on Iran’s behalf.

By World Israel News Staff

A suspected Iranian spy was arrested by Israeli authorities at Ben Gurion International Airport Friday, upon his arrival in the country.

The suspect, an Iranian Jewish man with relatives living in Israel, was taken into custody by the Shin Bet internal security agency and questioned early Friday morning before being released, denied entry to Israel, and forced to return to Iran.

According to the Shin Bet, during his interrogation, the suspected spy confessed that he had planned to conduct reconnaissance on behalf of the Iranian government.

The would-be spy told his interrogators that prior to his departure from Iran, he had met with Iranian security officials and had been issued equipment for intelligence gathering, including cameras, cellular phones, mobile charges, and money.

Following his mission, the suspect said, he was under orders to dispose of his equipment in a tissue box.

The man’s Iranian handlers were planning to provide him with addresses in Israel for him to monitor.

“This event is part of a broad Iranian effort to establish espionage and terror axes in Israel, alongside the influence in the network to widen the social divide,” the Shin Bet said.

“The Shin Bet, together with its partners in the security system, works all the time and will continue to work resolutely to detect and thwart Iran’s attempts to act against the State of Israel both in the face of terrorist activity and espionage and cyber.”

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, Tehran claimed it had broken up a massive Mossad spy ring, reportedly the largest ever found in Iran.

The arrests took place last week all over Iran, the country’s state-affiliated IRNA media reported, but did not mention how many arrests were made.

Authorities also seized 43 powerful remote-controlled bombs among other weapons.

Ben Gurion AirportEspionageIranIranian JewsShin Betspyspying