Two Iranians questioned by Greek Cypriot police over suspected plots to attack Israelis in Cyprus

Two Iranians have been detained in Cyprus for questioning over suspected planning of attacks on Israeli citizens living in Cyprus.

According to report, the two individuals were believed to be in the early stages of gathering intelligence on potential Israeli targets. The report claims that the Iranians were political refugees in contact with a person linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Barely a 40-minute flight from Israel, Cyprus is a popular holiday and investment destination for thousands of Israelis.

 

Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and the country’s Central National Security Headquarters later on Sunday confirmed that in cooperation with the Cypriot authorities, they have prevented plans for a terrorist attack in Cyprus that would have been carried out by two Iranians against Israeli citizens.

Information was channeled to the media in the neighboring country about the identity of the person who planned the attack, acting as the instigator and directing the actions of the two arrested persons.

According to Israeli media, “The person who activated the plan and directed the attack is an Iranian citizen named Mohammad Reza Abadi Arabolah, also known as Saeed Abadi.

He uses a large number of fake passports and different identities. He is a known agent of Iranian terrorist organizations, who, among other things, was reported to be involved in an attempt by the Revolutionary Guards Unit 400 on November 22 to assassinate an Israeli citizen in Georgia.”

The online version of Israel’s widely circulated newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, published one of the travel documents used by the alleged mastermind of the attack.

The report notes that “two members of the group were arrested in early November 2023, and since then, they have been under investigation, while legal proceedings against them and deportation proceedings have been initiated. {…} It emerged that this group was involved in the collection of intelligence information {…}”. Reference is also made to the relevant article in the Cyprus Kathimerini newspaper.

Today’s Mossad statement is also quoted: “Thanks to the anti-terrorist activity and the arrest of the group by the security authorities of Cyprus, a lot of information was obtained which led to the disclosure of the threat, the methods of operation, the targets of the attack and the Iranian plan to kill innocent people in Cyprus and other fields.”