by Reuters, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies
Saboteurs caught "red-handed" and are now being interrogated by Iranian authorities • Meanwhile, alleged Iranian spy Ali Mansouri indicted in Israel • Mansouri's indictment accuses him of espionage and assisting the enemy in wartime.
Four saboteurs arrested in
an attempt to attack Iranian nuclear site [illustrative]
|
Photo credit: Reuters  |
At least four people have been arrested in
Iran for trying to sabotage a nuclear site, an Iranian official was
quoted by Iranian media as saying on Sunday.
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization,
Ali Akbar Salehi, said officials had monitored and then arrested a
"number of saboteurs" before they could carry out their plan.
"Four of these individuals were caught
red-handed and their interrogations are ongoing," he said, according to
the Mehr News Agency on Sunday. He did not identify which nuclear site
they were planning to damage or when those detained were arrested.
Israel, widely believed to be the region's
only nuclear-armed state, sees Iran's atomic work as a military threat
and has said it will attack Iran's nuclear sites if it does not end its
programme. Iran says its nuclear work is purely peaceful.
Iran accuses Israel and the West of being
behind the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists and of trying to
damage its programme in other ways, such as by cyberattacks.
Meanwhile, alleged Iranian spy Ali Mansouri
was indicted Sunday morning at the Lod District Court for spying and
assisting the enemy in wartime.
According to Israeli media reports, the
indictment stated that Mansouri, 58, was recruited by Iran to carry out
terror operations in Israel. He has dual Iranian and Belgian
citizenship, and arrived in Israel to set up a business network that
would act as a cover for terrorist activity.
He had entered Israel three times to carry out
this objective, and was arrested on September 11 while attempting to
leave the country, the Shin Bet security agency revealed last month.
According to the Shin Bet and the indictment,
Mansouri said he had several meetings with Iran’s Quds Force, the unit
responsible for extraterritorial special operations, terrorism and
subversion. The unit is run by the Islamist Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps.
In his interrogation
Mansouri said that he had returned to Iran in 2007 after having left
the country in 1980 with his family. He lived in Turkey until 1997, when
he became a businessman and moved to Belgium. He received his Belgian
citizenship in 2006, and subsequently changed his name to Alex Mans.
Mansouri was found with photographs of the
U.S. Embassy and Ben-Gurion International Airport, having reportedly
collected information on security procedures at the latter.
According to the indictment, Mansouri was
preparing to be joined by a second agent in the future. His espionage
activities were carefully hidden from the Israeli government and his
activities were reported to his Iranian handlers following each trip to
Israel.
Iran reportedly offered him $1 million for his espionage work.
The prosecution requested to return Mansouri to police custody until the proceedings are over.
Reuters, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=12393
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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