Mossad issued a warning that Iran has stepped up its plans to target Jews and Israelis globally.
By Vered Weiss
Reports that two Iranian nationals arrested by Cypriot police were members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and were planning to attack Jews and Israelis on the island have been confirmed by the Mossad.
The arrest of the two Iranian men gathering intelligence on Jewish and Israeli targets in Cyprus last month was reported by the newspaper Kathimerini Cyprus.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office released a statement on behalf of the Mossad, “The Cypriot security and enforcement agencies thwarted, in partnership with the Mossad for intelligence and special functions, an Iranian terrorist infrastructure that planned to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in Cyprus.”
The Mossad statement continued, “Thanks to the preventive activity and the arrest of the cell by the security services in Cyprus, a great deal of information was received, which led to the exposure of the terrorists, the methods of operation, the targets of the attack, and the Iranian plan to cause the killing of innocents in Cyprus and other arenas.”
In addition, the Mossad issued a warning that Iran has stepped up its plans to target Jews and Israelis globally and that it “doesn’t shy away from any means to achieve its criminal goals.”
According to the National Security Council, many Israelis have sought solace in Cyprus since October 7th, but the use of Northern Cyprus as an area to carry out terrorist attacks on Jews and Israelis is a “troubling issue.”
The National Security Council and intelligence community have upgraded the threat to Israelis and Jewish travelers abroad following the October 7th massacre.
This is the third time in the past few years that Cyprus has been the setting for an attempted terror attack.
Six months ago, Cypriot intelligence officials along with Israeli counterparts prevented a terrorist incident planned to target Israelis on the island.
Security forces in Cyprus tracked a terrorist group that had been stationed in the northern Turkish part of Cyprus and was planning an attack in the southern Greek section of the island.
Also, two years ago, Russian nationals were caught with plans to attack Jews in Cyprus.