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Quds Force, not Hezbollah, behind attempted killing in Colombia – report

Iran’s Quds Force is believed to have planned the attempted assassination of an Israeli former agent

By World Israel News staff

A thwarted attempt to assassinate an Israeli citizen in Colombia appears to have been carried out by Iran’s Quds Force, not Hezbollah as originally reported.

Authorities in Colombia were notified by the Mossad and other agencies that a former Israeli intelligence agent was a target for assassination, in an apparent revenge attack for the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last November. The agent was later smuggled to Tel Aviv in a covert operation.

Defense Minister Diego Molano told Colombian daily El Tempo that two Hezbollah agents had been captured and deported. In an interview published Sunday, he added that Hezbollah has already carried out “criminal activities” in Colombia in the past, adding that “there are concerns about the presence of Hezbollah in Venezuela and its relationship with terrorist groups and their financing.”

However, Israel Hayom reported Wednesday that the attack was more likely planned by Iranian Quds Force operatives. According to sources familiar with the case, the plans were consistent with known cooperation between local criminal gangs and international terrorist organizations, headed up by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp’s Quds Force.

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The report noted that the attempted killing of the Israeli agent is the latest in a string of recent attempted assassinations of Israelis abroad.

Earlier this month, Colombian President Ivan Duque visited Jerusalem to open an entrepreneurship and innovation agency with the aim of encouraging bilateral trade between the two states.

Greeting him, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog noted: “like Israel, I know that Colombia is concerned about Iran and Hezbollah’s terror cells being established on your border with Venezuela. From many years of experience, it is clear that these forces must be stopped swiftly—if not a minute sooner.”

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Tobias Siegal contributed to this report.