Israel said to have helped foil planned Iranian attack on Israeli targets in Turkey

June 12, 2022 admin-dominor

Israeli and Turkish security agencies last month uncovered an Iranian plot to carry out an attack against Israeli targets in Turkey, according to Hebrew media reports Sunday.

Israeli security officials tipped off their Turkish counterparts about the network and asked that they take action to thwart the attack, according to the reports.

The reports, citing unnamed senior Israeli sources, did not specify what nationality the alleged Iranian agents were, how many were involved, or if any arrests were made.

A senior Israeli official was quoted by Ynet as saying there has been an uptick in Iranian attempts to carry out attacks.

At the end of last month, Israel issued a travel warning to its citizens, advising them to avoid visiting Turkey amid fears of an imminent Iranian response to the assassination of a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a week earlier.

In an unusual move, the National Security Council at the time explicitly identified “Iranian terrorist operatives” as the source of the threat to Israelis in Turkey and nearby countries.

Last month, Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei was shot five times in his car by two unidentified gunmen on motorbikes in the middle of Tehran. He reportedly was involved in killings and abductions outside of Iran, including attempts to target Israelis.

Iranian authorities have yet to pin down the suspects in Khodaei’s killing, even though the incident took place in the heart of one of the most secure areas in Tehran — Mohahedin-e Eslam Street, home to other senior officials in the IRGC and its elite Quds Force.

Israel, which has not officially commented on the incident, reportedly raised the security alert level at its embassies and consulates around the world, fearing a retaliatory Iranian attack.

An unnamed intelligence official told the New York Times that Israel told US officials it was behind the assassination. A senior Israeli MK denied this.