Iranian attack plan “targeting” Israelis “foiled” in Cyprus, announces Israeli Prime Minister’s office
Israel and Cyprus foiled Iranian plan to attack “Israeli and Jewish targets” on the Mediterranean island, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. “Cypriot security and law enforcement agencies, in cooperation with Mossad”Israel’s national intelligence agency, “thwarted an Iranian terrorist infrastructure that planned to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in Cyprus”it is announced in a joint press release.
Cypriot police earlier told Agence France Presse that they had arrested two people on suspicion of “national security”. “We are investigating a case linked to terrorism”, said a spokesperson, without further details. Daily life Kathimerini had reported that two Iranians, suspected of planning an attack against Israelis, were detained and awaiting deportation. The newspaper said they were political refugees with likely ties to the Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s ideological army, and were in the early stages of gathering intelligence on targets.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office said that after the arrests “considerable information was obtained, which helped uncover the attackers, their modus operandi, the targets of the attack and the Iranian plan to kill innocent people in Cyprus and elsewhere”. According to the statement, Iran, which supports Hamas, “intensified its efforts to advance terrorism around the world” since the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7. Cyprus, located about 400 kilometers from Israel, has a large Israeli community, with political ties having strengthened in recent years through the exploitation of regional energy resources. The island also served as a hub for the transfer of foreign nationals evacuated from Israel after the outbreak of war.