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Kenya: 2 Iranians who plotted attack on Israeli embassy deported

Kenya’s authorities are apparently burying an Iranian terrorist plot and have deported two men from the Islamic Republic caught spying on Israel’s embassy in Nairobi. 

Two Iranian men found with video footage of the Israeli embassy in Kenya have been deported back to their country after a deal was reached to drop charges against them, Kenyan officials said Monday.

The two men had faced charges of collecting information to facilitate a terrorist attack.

They were deported Saturday after a court order, the head of Kenya’s anti-terrorism unit, Munga Nyale, said. Their lawyer, Ahmednasir Abdulahi, claimed they were deported because there was no evidence in the charges they faced.

The prosecution said an agreement to deport them was reached after a meeting between the director of Public Prosecutions and the Iranian embassy.

Sayed Nasrollah Ebrahim and Abdolhosein Gholi Safaee were riding in an Iranian embassy vehicle when they were arrested outside the Israeli embassy late last month.

Iran said they are lawyers who were in Kenya representing two Iranians jailed for 15 years on charges of terrorism. Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammad and Sayed Mansour Mousavi had led officials to a 15-kilogram (33-pound) stash of the explosive RDX.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had assigned his deputy for Consular, Parliamentary and Expatriates Affairs, Hassan Qashqavi, to go to Kenya and initiate negotiations with respective Kenyan officials to “remove misunderstanding” and secure their immediate release.

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Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi welcomed the release of the two attorneys. “We thank the Kenyan government and judicial officials for freeing two Iranian lawyers,” Qassemi said on Thursday.

Iranian agents have been suspected in attacks or thwarted attacks around the globe in recent years, including in Azerbaijan, Thailand and India. Most of the plots had Israeli targets.

By: AP and World Israel News Staff