Israel’s Mossad revealed on Thursday details of a daring operation, where agents of the espionage agency tracked and interrogated on Iranian soil an Iranian agent who had operated in Cyprus days before being caught, targeting an Israeli businessman.
The Mossad published the identity of the Iranian agent tracked — Yusef Shahabazi Abbasalilu — and also published a short video clip showing Shahabazi Abbasalilu explaining his actions in Cyprus. He was apparently filmed in Iran by Mossad agents.
In the clip, the Iranian agent is saying that he had entered Cyprus with the help of a certain Hassan Shoushtari Zadeh, whose people — Pakistani nationals and others — assisted the agent reaching the south of the island. Shoushtari Zadeh then instructed Shahabazi Abbasalilu to hide his weapon in the house of the Pakistanis, which he did. After that, Shahabazi Abbasalilu received via WhatsApp from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) the identity of the target, and Shoushtari provided him with intelligence for the operation on the whereabouts of the target and how to get to his house in the middle of the night. Shahabazi Abbasalilu says in the film that he operated according to instructions. Once the police were after him, he was instructed to bury his weapon and escape back to Iran.
Cypriot Philenews site first revealed on Sunday that Cypriot intelligence authorities, in cooperation with other foreign agencies, had thwarted a terror plot believed to be linked to the IRGC. A few hours later, the Mossad acknowledged assisting Cypriot authorities in foiling an Iranian-planned attack targeting Israeli and Jewish targets in the country.
A statement issued by the Mossad right after said that “the State of Israel operates using a wide variety of methods in every place to protect Jews and Israelis, and will continue to act to destroy Iranian terrorism wherever it raises its head, including on Iranian soil.” It continued that Israel “welcomes” the operation to foil the terror plot, accusing Iran of being the world’s chief terror-supporting country.
This is not the first time Iranian agents were involved in plots against Jews and Israelis in Cyprus.
On March 28, the office of the Israeli prime minister, in charge of the Mossad, said that the agency had assisted Cypriot security agencies in cracking down on an Iranian terror cell. According to Kathimerini Cyprus, the cell had included two Pakistani nationals, with a third operative suspected of being located in Iran. The Iran-based operative had reportedly urged the two Pakistani cell members to carry out the attack and promised them they would be paid. The attackers planned to strike a Jewish synagogue, which also functions as a restaurant. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the attackers had also planned on kidnapping Jews or Israelis.
In October 2021, the office of then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett revealed it had foiled an Iranian plot to kill Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi who was living in Cyprus at the time. The Israeli statement emphasized that the failed hit on Sagi was not a criminal affair. “Regarding some of the reports last night about the incident in Cyprus, I would like to clarify, on behalf of the security establishment, that this was an act of terror that was orchestrated by Iran against Israeli businesspeople living in Cyprus,” said Bennett’s spokesperson Matan Sidi.