Iran has reportedly made a secret move to leak Israeli secrets. Israel has also accused women of being recruited online for this purpose. Iran is known to have used Israeli women to photograph the US embassy and other activities.
Security agency Shin Bet said on Wednesday that the Iranian ‘espionage network’ had used Facebook to recruit women to leak secrets. The women identified by Shin Bet were found to have been recruited by an Iranian agent. The Israeli agency said in a statement that the man had called himself “Rambod Namdar” and told women he was a Jew living in Iran. Rambod Namdar is Iran’s intelligence agent.
‘Even though the Israeli women realized that it was an Iranian intelligence operative who demanded secrets from their own country, some of them kept in touch with him and agreed to carry out exactly the secret moves they demanded. An Israeli spokesman said the women had received money from spies.
Shin Bet added that after being approached through Facebook, the ‘Rambode’ asked women to continue communicating with WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging app. Four women were involved in the espionage. A chargesheet has been filed against them, officials said.
One in 40 women is known to have been associated with the ‘Rambode’ for years and carried out various missions. This includes secretly filming the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and taking pictures inside the Interior Ministry in their hometown of Holon. All this has been sent to Iran.
It was also found that the son of a woman who had been captured for the purpose of stealing strategic documents was looking for a job in the Directorate of Military Intelligence and was being asked by the ‘Rambode’. Another 57-year-old defendant was also asked to enroll her son in Israeli military intelligence. Shin Bet says they have often received about $ 5,000 over four years.
English Summary: Israel says Iran ‘spy network’ recruited women online
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