About a month after Turkish intelligence revealed that it had thwarted an attempted abduction and harm to Israelis and a former Israeli diplomat and his wife in Istanbul, the country’s media published today (Friday) new details about the Iranian terrorist cell.
The same cell reportedly had no direct contact with Iranian intelligence and was targeted by an Iranian mafia. The mafia leader lived in Iran and will communicate with the agents via WhatsApp. The investigation revealed that one of the members of the cell traveled to Iran four times in about two months and on his last visit met with the Mafia leader, about four days before his arrest.
However, three of the six Iranians arrested said in their interrogations that the assassination order was issued by the Iranian intelligence organization. Iranian agents entered Turkey two months ago through the country’s entrance gates, but the passports of two of them were forged.
One of the detainees also admitted that they had also targeted three Israeli women. According to the report, at the end of June, one of the Iranian agents photographed the hotel room where the women were staying, but the Turkish security officers arrested him and another agent at the hotel that day. Two days later, three more Iranian agents were arrested at a hotel in Istanbul, and 11 days later, another agent was arrested. During their arrest, many documents, digital materials, silencers and guns were seized.
It was further reported that Turkish intelligence obtained a phone call between one of the agents and the mafia leader, during which he asked: “How loud will the noise be if a shot is fired at a hotel?”. Questions also arose about the quality of the weapons. The mafia leader replied that “the gun makes a faint noise, like a balloon exploding. Do not worry, there will be no problem.”
As you may recall, Turkish media reported earlier this month that the intended target of the Iranian terrorist cell is Yosef Levy Sefri, The Consul General of Israel in Istanbul, who was rescued by the authorities and sent back to Israel in Operation “Like from the Movies”. According to reports, the Iranian agents were staying at the same hotel where Levi Sefri and his partner Roni Goldberg were staying. “The Iranian squad was caught hot at the last minute,” it was reported.
Meanwhile, an Israeli security source told the Iranian International-affiliated Iran International website that the use of gangs is part of the Revolutionary Guards’ method of carrying out terrorist acts in various countries, including Turkey. He also stressed that the Quds Force and the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization make extensive use of criminals, mafia gangs, drug dealers and even simple criminals in Turkey, South America and Cyprus to carry out terrorist attacks. “