Israeli businessman Itsik Moshe was the target of the thwarted Iranian attack in Georgia, Israeli security sources said on Tuesday, APA reports citing i24news.
This was not the first time that Iranian forces have tried to attack Moshe, according to an unnamed Israeli security official. The 62-year-old businessman worked as a top Jewish Agency official in Russia and founded Israeli House, which seeks to improve Israel's image in eastern Europe.
Led by Iran, a Pakistani team affiliated with Al Qaeda traveled to Georgia's capital city of Tbilisi to gather intelligence and prepare for the attack, but were arrested by Georgian security forces.
Authorities said the suspects gathered “extensive intelligence on the target for assassination and reached a high level of readiness for execution.”
The uncovered cell has been operating since 2011 and led by an Iranian citizen identified as Mohammad Reza Ebadi Arablu, a veteran of the Quds Force, one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Another Quds Force commander, Ali Feyzipour, who has been implicated in other Iranian terrorist plots around the world, was heading the operation.
One of the terrorists was arrested last week. A military weapon and other incriminating findings were confiscated. In addition, two operatives with dual Georgian-Iranian citizenship, who were working with an arms dealer in Türkiye, were detained.
All the teams involved in the preparation for the attack were recruited, trained, and financed by the Iranians, according to Israel's security apparatus. An investigation is underway to identify other people involved in the preparation of the attack outside of Georgia.
"This is not the first time that an attempt to carry out a terrorist attack on Georgian soil with Iranian orders has come to light," the unnamed Israeli security official said.
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