Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested an eight-man cell that was working on behalf of the Iranian secret service to target Israelis in the country, Turkish media reported Thursday.
The cell members were caught last Thursday with weapons and ammunition during a raid on the hotel they were staying at. Before that, the assassination team, consisting of four separate cells of two people, was shadowed by the MIT for two months.
It is believed that the cell was preparing to attack the wife of a retired Israeli diplomat whose name was kept secret for security reasons. Furthermore, the members of the armed assassination network follow the Israeli groups and closely monitored their activities and transferred the information to Tehran.
The news of this successful operation was published as Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was on his way to Turkey to meet his counterpart Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the latest phase in the warming ties between Jerusalem and Ankara.
Israel has repeatedly warned that Israeli tourists in Istanbul are under an immediate threat of a terrorist attack by Iranian agents and has called on all Israelis to leave the country immediately.
The MIT, Turkish intelligence led by Hakan Fidan, has been making a supreme effort, as ordered by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to locate the Iranian terrorist cells in Turkey as Erdoğan fears harm to foreign tourism in Turkey if Israeli tourists are attacked by terrorists, which would adversely affect the Turkish economy.
The number of key and senior Iranian officials whose mysterious death is attributed to Israel is constantly climbing, and therefore Iran is seeking to hurt Israelis in response, primarily in Turkey.
Israel’s defence establishment is closely monitoring Iran’s official threats for revenge and has stepped up alertness and security in all Jewish and Israeli institutions around the world.