Turkish authorities arrested two more suspects in an alleged plot by Iranian nationals against Israeli citizens in Turkey. Media outlets reported on Friday that only one suspect was released in the investigation, culminating in arrests last month.
Eight people were detained on military or political espionage charges in June and were accused of planning attacks against Israelis in the country. In the first operation, five suspects were detained on June 17 in Istanbul, while one among them was released with judiciary control and a ban on travel abroad. Further investigation led to a second operation and three others were detained on July 14 when authorities discovered suspects were doing reconnaissance work around a hotel in Taksim Square, a popular spot among tourists and a hub of hotels serving them.
Security forces have also seized three pistols, silencers and a cache of ammunition in possession of suspects.
In June, Israel urged its citizens to avoid Istanbul or to return home if already there, sharpening a May 30 advisory against travel to Turkey because of what it said was a threat of Iranian attempts to kill or abduct vacationing Israelis. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said a "huge effort" by Israel's security forces had saved "Israeli lives in recent weeks" and thanked the Turkish government for its contribution. He did not give further details.
Tehran has vowed to retaliate against Israel, which it blames for the May 22 killing of Hassan Sayad Khodai, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps colonel who was shot dead in his car by two people on a motorcycle. Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, its standard policy over accusations of assassinations. It accused Khodai of having plotted attacks against its citizens worldwide.
Media reports said suspects have been monitoring Israelis in the city for a while. The suspects reportedly traveled to Turkey posing as business people, tourists and students and were divided into two cells. They have been under surveillance for the past two months. Turkish media reports have claimed that the wife of a former Israeli diplomat was among the potential targets of the suspects though authorities could not confirm this.
In February, media outlets reported that National Intelligence Organization (MIT) uncovered a plot directed by Iran to assassinate an Israeli-Turkish businessperson using a network of alleged hitmen. Yair Geller, an Istanbul-based tycoon with investments in the machine and defense industries, was the target of the nine-person network following his every move. MIT’s counterintelligence branch discovered that Iran's intelligence agency put together a network in Turkey to target Geller, allegedly in response to the 2020 "assassination" of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in what Tehran deemed an Israeli operation. In 2021, MIT also discovered an espionage network controlled by Mossad and a six-person Russian espionage team planning to assassinate dissidents in Turkey.
Also, in 2021, a team of Iranian spies accused of plotting to kidnap a former Iranian military official in Turkey was captured. In February 2021, an Iranian citizen was arrested for helping plan the murder of Iranian dissident Masoud Molavi Vardanjani in Istanbul 2019.