[IsraelTimes] Agents, including some Iranian nationals, reportedly arrested last week in raid in Beyoglu district of Istanbul; ex-diplomat and his wife said targeted in plot...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
has detained several people allegedly working for an Iranian intelligence cell that planned to assassinate or snatch Israeli tourists in Istanbul, local media reported Thursday.
The news of the bust came weeks after Israel ordered its citizens in Istanbul to leave immediately, warning of an imminent Iranian attack plot targeting Israelis in Turkey.
Among those who were being targeted for kidnapping were a former Israeli diplomat and his wife, Hebrew media reported, citing
The suspects, who were not all Iranian nationals, were detained in a raid last week in three houses in Istanbul’s popular Beyoglu district, the IHA news agency reported. The outlet said eight people had been arrested.
Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday that
The network, without citing a source, also reported that there were believed to be three more Iranian cells in Istanbul.
IHA said Iran
...The nation is noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence...
sent agents disguised as businessmen, tourists and students to Istanbul to assassinate Israelis in retaliation for Khodaei’s murder and other attacks.
It said the Iranians had split into four groups of two assassins who could better track their Israeli targets.
The suspects rented apartments and hotel rooms in the area, and had $30,000 to set up a network of agents.
Police seized two pistols and two silencers in searches conducted in houses and hotels where the suspects were staying, according to the Hurriyet report.
"The hitmen in the liquidation team, who settled in two separate rooms on the second and fourth floors of a hotel in Beyoglu, were [detained] with a large number of weapons and ammunition," IHA said.
Channel 12 reported that the Mossad and
Israeli security forces will continue operating in Turkey for at least a few more days, the network said.
The reported arrests were the first time that