14 Israeli-linked terrorists arrested in Iran: Officials
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Iranian media reports that security forces have arrested 14 Israeli-linked terrorists who were planning on identifying and assassinating personnel in the country.
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The flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran flies over a street in Tehran, Iran, February 3 2023. (Reuters)
14 Israeli-linked terrorists who were suspected of planning assassinations in West Azerbaijan were arrested by Iranian intelligence forces, according to Iranian media who cited a judicial official on Monday.
The terrorist cell was disbanded by Iran's security forces who worked in cooperation with judicial authorities, the official informed Mehr news agency.
The cell is suspected of planning to identify and eliminate several personnel in the country.
This news comes shortly after Turkish authorities reportedly identified 15 suspects, 11 of whom have been arrested, who allegedly were a part of a 23-person ring of operators, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Daily Sabah, a publication commonly seen as being pro-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the publication, the 15 are reportedly suspected of using an Iranian-based organization to acquire information for the Israeli Mossad spy agency. This suspicion comes from both Turkey's National Intelligence Organization and the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
Daily Sabah reported that the initial emphasis of the 18-month inquiry was on 23, including two Turkish citizens as suspects.
The report listed Selçuk Küçükkaya as the suspect ring's leader. According to Daily Sabah, the Gülen movement, an opposition network that Turkey has branded as a terrorist organization, is where Mossad allegedly found Küçükkaya.
Küçükkaya is said to have met with Mossad agents in Europe who recruited him after giving him five test assignments to set up a ring, track down people of interest, and send information to Mossad about "the family members of the target persons, phone calls and signal information, bank accounts, and assets," according to the report.
