Cypriot authorities have arrested two Iranian suspects over an alleged plot to target Israelis in the Mediterranean island nation, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Sunday in a joint statement with the Mossad intelligence agency and the National Security Council.
According to the statement, Cypriot security forces uncovered and thwarted the plot in early November, in collaboration with the Mossad. The two suspects, named as Mohammad Reza Ebadi Arablu and Sa’id Ebadi, have been detained since.
Arablu is a known terror operative, suspected of involvement in a 2022 Iran-backed attempt to assassinate a prominent Israel-Georgian businessman living in Tbilisi. The extraterritorial arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds Force, was implicated in the Georgia assassination plot.
Channel 12 reported Sunday night that the intended target in Cyprus was also an Israeli businessman, who resides on the island country. The businessman was alerted and left Cyprus last month, according to the report.
The Cypriot investigation uncovered a number of fake identity documents used by the two Iranian suspects, who were said to be political refugees with ties to the IRGC. They arrived in Cyprus via Turkey, Channel 12 reported, and one of them was involved in a previous terror plot in Cyprus.
They were reportedly in the early stages of obtaining intelligence on Israeli targets, as well as other potential Western targets outside Cyprus.
The newspaper Kathimerini Cyprus said the two Iranians were awaiting deportation.
Continue here: Times of Israel
