A text, a Telegram link, then an offer of money: how Iran sought to recruit spies in Israel | Iran

Before the start of the war against Iran last month, Israel revealed a comprehensive network of its own citizens who spy for Tehran on a surprising scale.

Since Iran’s first missile dam in April 2024, more than 30 Israelis have been accused of cooperation with Iranian intelligence.

In many cases, people started with anonymous messages that offer money for information or small tasks. Payments were then made compatible with more dangerous demands.

According to the court documents, the increase in Iranian espionage efforts have achieved very little with the inadequate desire of Tehran to execute the high -level assassinations of Israeli officials.

However, many Israelis were ready to do modest tasks that the espionage campaign could later be successful as a way of using crowded resources on strategically important sites that would later become the target of Iranian ballistic missiles.

In the meantime, Israel allowed Mossad to find and assassinate most of the high command of Iran and nuclear scientists, as well as many other goals on Friday, July 13th.

According to the Fars news agency, since the war began, the Iranian regime has arrested more than 700 people accused of espionage for Israel. However, the essays are confidential and at least six cases led to summary executions, making it impossible to judge how much of the alleged network is real and how many official hysteric figures.

On the other hand, when it comes to the Israelites accused of espionage for Iran, the prosecution presented detailed indictments. Although it was only a conviction of the recent wave of arrest, it enabled the evaluation of individual guilt, a clear picture of the court documents about how Iran decided to create a large network for potential agents.

It usually started with a text message from an anonymous sender. Posted by “News Agency ,, asked such a message: mı Do you have any information about the war? We are ready to buy it.” Another sent to a Palestinian Israeli citizen by “Tehran-Quds” (Tehran-Jerusalem) was clear: “A free Jerusalem unites Muslims. Send us information about the war.”

The message contained a connection with someone who uses the name of Israel, sometimes with money proposal for simple jobs, with someone who uses Israeli. If the recipient has expressed interest, it is recommended to establish PayPal by new mysterious contacts and make an application to receive funds in crypto currencies.

In the event of a suspect arrested on September 29, the first task was to go to a park and to check if a black bag was buried in a certain point to pay about $ 1,000 (£ 730). There was no bag and recruitment sent a video to prove it.

Later, other works including distributing brochures, hanging posters or spraying graffiti were appointed, most Benjamin Netanyahu is iz We are all together against Bibi ”(Netanyahu’s nickname) or“ Bibi brought here ”or“ Bibi = Hitler ”.

The next stage required to take photos. In order to photograph the sensitive facilities in the country, an Israeli Azerbaijani heritage was rented and seems to have turned it into a family company, his relatives had the shooting of the port facilities in Hafa (then he would be shot by the 12 -day war of this month), in October, a Salvo, Nevatim Airbase (Nevatim Airbase, Uril Fost, as well as the ironing fans, both iron and fans. Fostçuklar, as well as peasant, Pilpe, Purpines, Purpines, Purpines, Purpas, Nevatim Air, Piliş and Peasant Fibers, Purpas, Nevatim Air and Military Intelligence Center in the north of Tel Aviv.

A nuclear scientist working at the Weizmann Institute was asked to photograph the house. Israel’s leading science center was an interesting object of Iran. During the 15 years of war this month, almost certainly five Iranian nuclear scientists were killed by MOSSAD. Tehran wanted to go back in a long struggle to see if Israel could protect the monopoly on nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

In the 12 -day war, Iran hit the Weizmann Institute with ballistic missiles and seems likely to help the photographs taken by their agents to target. But the attempt to kill scientists was a failure. In fact, neither Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security nor the revolutionary guards did not seem to have failed to assassinate any of its goals in the long shadow war.

While Mossad relied on infiltrating a staff of high -educated operators to Iran, the approach of Iranian intelligence was to test how ready the green soldiers would be. Israel Intelligence Specialist Yossi Melman, A Shin Betting Authority Quote To describe it as a spray and socket approach aimed at developing a handful of high quality recruitment by making low -betting investments in others ”.

After doing simple tasks such as putting posters and taking photos, they were asked to do more for more money than recruitment. After photographing the house of a nuclear scientist from the Institute of Weizmann, $ 60,000 was offered to kill a recruitment scientist and his family and to burn their homes.

According to the indictment, the agent hired and hired four local challenges, including all Palestinian Israeli citizens. On the night of September 15, this hit staff appeared at the gates of the Institute of Weizmann, but they did not cross the security guard and moved away.

After this fiasco, the Iranian operators told Weizmann to recruit and took more photos. With the advantage of being a Jewish Jew, an Israel that reached daylight passed through the security guards and filmed the scientist’s car. He was paid $ 709 and asked if a GPS device would be installed in the car. Refused.

This will be a model that is repeated over and over again in the indictments. Although Iranian recruits are effective in finding plenty of Israelis to take photos and distribute brochures for the Iranian money, the operators in Tehran seem to hurry too much to develop long -term agents.

Many of them were suddenly asked if they were trying to assassinate the higher authorities just a few days after completing their first mission. The Azerbaijani group was asked to find a hitman, but he refused. A scientist refused to place a GPS audience in the car of the same job, days later, Netanyahu’s vehicle was asked to throw a gas bomb.

Only one of the suspects was sentenced and imprisoned after confessing the charges against him.

Million Dollar demand

72 -year -old Mordechai “Moti” Maman, when he approached by the Iranian intelligence in spring last year, recently married a much younger Belarusian woman and needed a fund after the failure of several business attempts.

Maman had spent for several years in Samandada in Türkiye, and in April, two businessmen he knew there to see if he had money -making ideas. Brothers, Eddie, dry fruits and spices named an Iranian acquaintance with a profitable business partnership and suggested that Maman should meet with him, he said.

In April, Maman flew to Samandan through Cyprus, but Eddie sent two colleagues instead and claimed that he could not leave Iran for bureaucratic reasons. The following month, Israel was invited to Türkiye to the town of Yuksekova in the distant southeast, where he stayed in a hotel room paid by Eddie.

Once again, Eddie said he could not go to Türkiye, but it was a way to kidnap Israel to Iran. He agreed and concealed the transition in a truck on May 5th.

Eddie and a second Iranian authority met with Maman in a luxury hotel in Iran and offered him thousands of dollars for three tasks. He would leave money or weapons in designated places in Israel; He would take pictures of crowded places; And to other agents, especially for the Israeli Palestinians who have funded funds from Iran to carry out hostile missions, but in fact did not fulfill their duties.

Maman said he would think about it and that he was kidnapped again to Türkiye. When he returned to Yuksekova, $ 1,300 was given as a partial payment to travel.

In August, Maman returned to Türkiye and once again missed the border to meet Eddie and his partner. This time the tasks were more intimidated. The Iranians offered $ 150,000 to kill any of Netanyahu, Shin Bet President Ronen Bar or Yoav Gallant.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Maman said that there were underground connections that could handle the job, but asked for $ 1 million. This was very high for $ 400,000 for Iranians who proposed former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a fewer target. It was claimed that Maman had adhered to a million dollar demand and the talks were postponed from the agreement.

He was paid 5,000 dollars and returned to Cyprus and returned to Tel Aviv, where Shin Bet officers were waiting for him on August 29th.

Maman on April 29 He was sentenced to 10 years in prison In prison after being found guilty of contacting a foreign agent and making unauthorized entry into an enemy state. His lawyer Eyal Besserglick described the sentence as extreme and appealed.

Besserglick said that Maman believed that Eddie was nothing but an Iranian businessman dealing with raisins and spices until the last moment, and he was not aware of smuggling a truck where he was taken to Iran. He argued that his client should ultimately appear with the Iranian parcels, denying that Maman wanted $ 1 million, and he was afraid that a sudden rejection would kill him.

“What would be better? If he was kidnapped or murdered in a minibus?” Besserglick told Guardian. He said that Maman was beaten in prison and was held in a dirty cell infected with the walls.

“The mistake he made is serious,” the lawyer said. “But this should not die for the mistake, because there will be no one to punish.”

Miss Rabee contributed to this article to report