Seven Azerbaijani immigrants to Israel have been accused of working for Iran for two years, carrying out 600 operations, including sharing information on the air bases targeted in this month’s ballistic missile barrage from Iran.
They were also accused of sharing information about Israel’s air defense system, the Iron Dome, and the Hadera power plant, sharing intelligence directly with Iran.
The team, who lived in northern Israel, had been paid thousands of dollars, also in crypto, according to Israel’s Shin Bet.
Israel Police named the Jewish suspects as Aziz Nisanov, Alexander Sedikov, Vyacheslav Goshchin, Yevgeny Yufa, Yigal Nisan and two minors.
“The investigation revealed that for over two years, the suspects have been carrying out a series of different security missions for the Iranian intelligence agencies, under the direction of two agents from the Iranian intelligence - Alkhan and Oran, while the members of the infrastructure are aware that the information they pass on to the agents harms the security of the state, and in some cases can even assist the enemy in a missile attack,” the statement detailed.
The group carried out hundreds of information gathering tasks on IDF bases throughout the country, with an emphasis on air force and navy bases, ports, locations of Iron Dome defense systems and energy infrastructures.
“The activity included photographing and documenting the various sites that the members of the infrastructure handed over to the agents,” the statement added, the team given advanced and dedicated equipment that they had purchased ahead of time, all under the guidance of the Iranian agents.
The cell was also asked to collect information about a number of Israeli citizens with the view of them being future targets.
An indictment is expected to be filed by the prosecutor's office in the coming days.
Ronen Solomon, an Israeli intelligence analyst, said it is likely communication from Iran was done in Azeri language. "It is one of the tools of Iran's Unit 840 and IRGC Unit 4000," he said. "But how they managed to work under the radar for two years is something crazy," he said.
Israel’s state attorney's office stressed that "this is one of the most serious cases investigated in recent years."
Asher Ben Artzi, Israel's former head of Interpol, told Iran International: "I never in my life thought I would see something like this. Assisting an enemy during war, I am in shock."
After decades in the security service, he said the incident will send shockwaves through the tight-knit country of just 10 million. "It's a betrayal," he said. "It's the worst thing that a citizen can do.
Ben Artzi said the operation highlighted the sophisticated nature of Iranian intelligence, targeting "weak links" in Israel, immigrants who are more economically challenged and less integrated into Jewish life.
"They have blood on their hands," he said, as he says the cell gave information about the elite Golani unit's army base attack by Hezbollah this month, which led to the deaths of five soldiers with dozens more injured.
"I'm not sure this is the end of the story," Ben Artzi warned, expecting more such cases in the future.
It’s the latest such case in a series over recent weeks. While Iran has been trying to recruit Israelis for over a decade, the incidence of arrests has increased since the Gaza war when Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel. Since then, Iran's proxies have been targeting Israel across its borders.
Most recently, arrests were made in two cases of Russian-Israeli citizens linked to Iran. They, like the Azerbaijanis, had come to Israel under the law of return which allows Jews around the world to immigrate to the world’s only Jewish state.
Yaron Binyamin, from unit Lahav 433, told Ynet News that "this is one of the most serious security incidents that have been investigated here,” adding that “there is a very high possibility that the main clause will be aiding the enemy in war, for which the penalty is death or life imprisonment.”
He said that the barrage of 181 ballistic missiles was able to have impacts due to the intelligence shared by the Azerbaijani team whose motive was “a thirst for money”.
The arrest of the suspects took place during a photo mission in the south of Israel. Binyamin said the relationship with Iran was managed through a Turkish intermediary named Alhassan.
He added that all the suspects were aware that they were working for Iran. "They knew they were carrying out the tasks for an enemy country, so the punishment expected of them will be particularly severe.”
Minister Micky Zohar called for the threat of the death penalty as the state faces a new and unprecedented threat from within.
On Monday he told Channel 12 in Israel "the phenomenon of traitors to the country and harming Israel's security for the sake of money while we are fighting for our future .... requires the application of extremely harsh measures, including a death penalty law for aiding the enemy in wartime."
In 1954, Israel abolished the death penalty for murder but kept it in place for war crimes, though since the establishment of the state in 1948, has enacted the death penalty only once, for Nazi Adolf Eichmann.
“Any acts of aggression towards nuclear sites are condemned under international law,” Baghaei said during his weekly news conference.
He added that Tehran had officially communicated its position to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying, "we have sent a letter about it to… the UN nuclear watchdog."
Israel has vowed to attack Iran in retaliation for a volley of Iranian missiles launched on October 1, leading to widespread speculation that Iran's nuclear sites could be among Israel's targets.
On October 1, Iran fired more than 180 missiles at Israel, a move described as retaliation for the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon. It was the second Iranian attack on Israel this year. Israel responded to the first missile volley in April with an air strike on an air defense site in central Iran.
After the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Tehran had made a “big mistake tonight” and vowed that “it will pay for it.” Later, the Biden administration revealed that it told Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear sites.
Last week, Netanyahu's office said Israel would listen to key ally the United States regarding a response to Iran's missile attack but would decide its actions according to its own national interest.
His statement was attached to a Washington Post article which said Netanyahu had told President Joe Biden's administration that Israel would strike Iranian military targets, not nuclear or oil sites.
Baghaei, responding to a question about the possibility of Iran changing its official nuclear doctrine, said "weapons of mass destruction have no place in our policy". Tehran would decide on how and when to respond to any Israeli attack.
Israel, which has long accused Tehran of plans to develop nuclear weapons, regards Iran's nuclear activities as a threat. Tehran denies these accusations, insisting that its program is entirely peaceful.
Additionally, Israel’s former premier Naftali Bennett called for the country’s leaders to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities as the Jewish state weighs its response to the barrage of 181 ballistic missiles.
Bennet slammed Biden who had called for a “proportionate” response, saying, "President Biden has said that Israel can retaliate against Iran, but must keep the response 'proportionate'. The president also urged Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear program."
Moreover, prominent Israeli opposition lawmaker and former defense minister Avigdor Liberman also called on the government to use “all the tools” at its disposal to confront the threat of Iran’s nuclear program, tacitly suggesting that Israel should use a nuclear weapon against the Islamic Republic.
“In order to stop the Iranian nuclear program, which is already at weaponization stages, we must use all the tools at our disposal... It must be clear that, at this stage, it is impossible to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons via conventional means.”
Separately, Baghaei said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would travel to Bahrain and Kuwait on Monday as part of Iran's efforts to curb regional tensions.
Since early October, Araghchi visited Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and Oman, with the primary goal of mitigating an Israeli strike.
Iran also remains defiant on the issue of three Persian Gulf islands disputed by UAE, with Baghaei reaffirming that Tehran “has no doubt about its territorial integrity and sovereignty over the three islands” in the face of claims from Persian Gulf states and the European Union, which accuse Iran of occupying the islands.
Tensions with Europe were also highlighted during Baghaei’s briefing, as he accused European governments of escalating hostilities by failing to engage constructively with Tehran.
European nations have recently imposed sanctions on Iran, citing its nuclear activities and human rights abuses.
When asked about reports of Israeli military preparations, Baghaei downplayed media speculation but stressed Iran’s readiness to defend itself.
“Our focus will be on responding to any kind of malicious act,” he stated, without specifying potential countermeasures.
Iran's rhetoric and diplomatic outreach suggest that the Islamic Republic is bracing for a critical confrontation in its longstanding conflict with Israel.