Israel arrests army reservists accused of spying for Iran

The alleged plots are thought to be a response to the ease with which Israeli intelligence has conducted operations in Iran.

A boy rides a donkey near one of the batteries of Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system at a village in the southern Negev desert. Israel’s security forces arrested two men accused of passing information on the missile defence system to Iran Picture: AFP

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Israel has arrested two army reservists accused of spying for Iran, including on the Iron Dome air defence system.

Police and Shin Bet, the security service, said that the main suspect, Yuri Eliasfov, 21, served in the Iron Dome unit and was paid to pass classified information to an Iranian handler from September last year. He recruited a friend, Georgi Andreyev, also 21, a statement said.

The arrests are the latest in a series of recent cases involving suspects alleged to have been spying for Iran.

The background of the latest suspects has not been made public but previous reports spoke of Iranian recruitment activities among Israelis with family backgrounds in the Caucasus, which abuts northern Iran.

One alleged spy in September was said to have been involved in a plot to assassinate Israeli leaders including the prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He was accused of receiving a down payment and of being smuggled into Iran from Turkey to receive instructions.

In October, six Arab-Israelis and an Arab resident of Israel were accused of sabotage missions. Their goal was said to be the assassination of an Israeli nuclear scientist.

Police said Eliasfov and Andreyev, who were also accused of hanging a pro-Iranian banner and spraying pro-Iranian graffiti, would be charged in the coming days.

The alleged plots are thought to be a response to the ease with which Israeli intelligence has conducted operations in Iran.

The Times