An Iranian attack on Georgian soil was prevented after the Georgian security forces recently uncovered and thwarted an attempt by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in cooperation with Qods Force officials, to carry out a terrorist attack in Tbilisi against an Israeli citizen living in the country, Itzik Moshe, who works a lot to promote the relationship between Israel and Georgia and other countries.
The Revolutionary Guards promoted the intentions of the attack through several teams in the field from different countries.
A team of Pakistani assassins affiliated with Al-Qaeda, who arrived in Tbilisi, gathered extensive intelligence on the target for assassination and reached a high level of readiness for execution.
One of the exterminators was arrested last week by the Georgian security forces, due to suspicious behavior in the field. In his possession were seized illegal weapons and other incriminating findings. The investigation revealed that he came to Georgia with Iranian instructions, with the aim of assassinating an Israeli citizen.
In addition, a squad of two operatives with dual Georgian-Iranian citizenship was located who were in charge of transferring the IML to the operation team. This was with the help of IML smugglers who operated from Turkey to Georgia. The squad received payment for carrying out the transfer of the ammunition. The two terrorists were also arrested by the local security forces. Also, in the possession of one of them was found another weapon intended for the purposes of the attack.
The cell was operated from 2011 by an Iranian citizen named Mohammad Reza Ebadi Arablu, who is a veteran operative of the Quds Force who previously operated inside Georgia. The one in question is operated by Ali Feyzipour, a Quds Force terrorist who promotes terrorist activity in many arenas around the world.
All the teams were recruited, directed and financed by the Iranians – in order to carry out a terrorist attack.
Thanks to the activity of the Georgian security forces, all those involved in Georgia were arrested and brought in for questioning. As of today, an investigation continues about other people involved outside of Georgia.
The Revolutionary Guards in Iran and their operatives used foreign citizens (Pakistani) with operational experience in order to carry out terrorist activities on the soil of Georgia, with the intention of keeping the Iranian fingerprint away, as far as the actual carrying out of terrorist activities is concerned. This is a recurring motif of Iran using Pakistanis and other foreigners as Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF), in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2396. At the same time, it seems that the use of foreign entities that are not completely loyal to Iran results in them being exposed and betraying their Iranian senders.
At the same time as the efforts that Iran invests in trying to remove its fingerprints from the act of terrorism, the use made by the Iranians for the transfers of IDF illustrates the effort on its part to influence the activity on the ground, step by step – from the directive to shed the activity, through planning and direction, to its actual implementation on the ground. This activity, The involvement of Iranians reflects Iran’s perception that it will not pay a price in the international arena for terrorist acts, since its citizens were not involved in the act of elimination itself.
A security officer said Because “this is not the first exposure of an attempt to carry out a terrorist attack on Georgian soil with Iranian direction.” According to the security source, “the use of official and unofficial Iranian elements is known to promote several terrorist attack attempts throughout 2021 and 2022. Among them is an attempt to promote an attack in Georgia under the direction of Shahram Pourzafi, an Iranian citizen who works for the Iranian Quds Force. Against Pourzafi himself is currently underway Criminal proceedings in the USA, for his involvement in an attempt to promote the assassination of John Bolton, the former US National Security Advisor.
Thanks to the activity of the Georgian security forces, the current activity was also exposed and the threat removed.
Itzik Moshe, the Israeli citizen who was the target of the attack, had already been targeted in the past by the Keds Force and the intelligence organization of the Israel Defense Forces. This is despite the fact that the intelligence organization of the Israel Defense Forces is an official body that operates official military annexes in various countries, including in Georgia itself.
In the background, terrorist attacks that the Israel Defense Forces’ intelligence organization recently tried to promote, and failed. The most prominent of them are the intentions to harm Israeli tourists in Istanbul (June 22′), and an attempt to harm Israeli businessmen in Cyprus (October 21).
Iran continues to promote terrorist activity around the world, state terrorism, through the executive arms of the regime – the Revolutionary Guards. Iran will pay a heavy price in the international arena for this activity, and various legal, economic and state measures are currently being considered against Iran and its proxies around the world. Thus, among other things, officials in the European Union are considering declaring MoSham as a terrorist organization.
The connection between Iran and al-Qaeda is nothing new. This attempted attack once again illustrates the close and long-standing relationship between Iran and al-Qaeda, and in particular Tehran’s use of the terrorist organization – whose leaders are even hosted on its soil – to promote harm to innocent citizens while hiding its responsibility and direct involvement. This, while collaborating with designated global jihad elements and violating international norms.”
After the disclosure of the affair in Georgia by the Georgian security forces, intelligence cooperation took place with elements of the Israeli intelligence community.
A member of the MLA messaged That there is no change in the travel warning to Georgia following the incident and that this is a one-off incident.