Global Courant
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said on Thursday that Mossad intelligence has carried out an operation in Iran to capture the suspected leader of an Iranian plot to attack Israeli businessmen in Cyprus and thwart the attack.
“In a unique operation on Iranian soil, Mossad captured the head of the cell, who made a detailed confession during an investigation that led to the exposure and dismantling of the terrorist cell behind the attack on Cyprus,” the Mossad said in a statement. a statement. rack.
Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Mossad did not say when the arrest took place, where the suspect is now, nor when the attack on Cyprus would have taken place. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday an attack had been thwarted, but did not provide details. Cyprus declined to comment at the time.
The Israeli agency identified the suspect as Yousef Shahabazi Abbasalilu and said he had received “detailed instructions and weapons from senior (officials) of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards” to carry out such an attack.
Netanyahu’s office, which oversees Mossad, has released a video in which Abbasalilu appears to show how he remembers conversations he had with members of the Revolutionary Guards.
Netanyahu said at Hatzerim airbase in southern Israel on Thursday that Israel was “working without delay” to thwart attempts by Iran and its proxies to attack Israel, including “in neighboring countries that are not in conflict with us.”
Iran and Israel have long been enemies. Israel accuses Iran of supporting militant attacks against it, while Iran says Israel has carried out a number of assassinations of Iranian officials.
US, European and Israeli officials fear Iran may be seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran denies such ambitions.
“We will not accept Iran’s intentions to develop a nuclear arsenal,” Netanyahu said, adding that a nuclear deal between the United States and Tehran would not bind Israel. “We will uphold our right and duty to defend with our own forces against any threat throughout the Middle East.”
(Reporting by Henriette Chacar; editing by Mark Heinrich and Cynthia Osterman)
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