Israeli couple held on suspicions of spying for Iran

Jerusalem, Oct 31 (IANS) An Israeli couple was arrested in the central city of Lod for allegedly conducting missions for Iranian intelligence, the Israeli police and the Israeli Office of the State Attorney said in separate statements on Thursday.

The two, Rafael and Lala Guliyev, both aged around 32, carried out tasks for Iranian agents that recruit Israelis immigrating from Caucasus countries, the police stated, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the statements, Rafael Guliyev carried out tracking, surveillance, and documenting missions at security and other sites in Israel, including the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence agency, and forwarded information he collected to Iranian operators via Telegram using a dedicated encryption application.

The police noted that he was also asked to find an assassin for his Iranian operators.

Rafael Guliyev was said to have been assisted by his wife in carrying out some of these tasks. According to the police, the couple has received a total of $26,000 since their operations began in 2021.

Meanwhile, Israel's state-owned Kan TV news reported that an indictment was filed on Thursday against a resident in the city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, for allegedly assisting a Palestinian squad from East Jerusalem in planning the assassination of an Israeli nuclear scientist in the interest of Iran.

--IANS

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