Israeli couple arrested on suspicion of spying on Mossad HQ for Iran

Prosecutors were expected to file charges on Thursday.

According to investigators, Rafael Guliyev was recruited by Elshan (Elkhan) Agayev, 56, an Azerbaijani-born operator known to be working for Iranian intelligence as part of a network targeting Israeli citizens of Caucasus origin.

Under Agayev's direction, Guliyev allegedly conducted surveillance of several high-security locations, including Mossad headquarters, and gathered intelligence about a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Guliyev was also allegedly tasked with recruiting a potential hit man, with his wife Lala allegedly assisting in several operations.

"These arrests are part of a broader pattern we've uncovered in recent weeks," said a senior ISA official. "We've detained multiple Israeli citizens who were carrying out missions for Iranian intelligence. These cases repeatedly demonstrate Iran's persistent efforts to recruit Israeli citizens for espionage and terror operations within Israel."

A high-ranking police official emphasised that Israel "will show zero tolerance toward those who collaborate with hostile entities and endanger our citizens and state."

INSS released a statement in response to the arrests, expressing the institute's "profound gratitude to the Shin Bet security agency for preventing the planned operation against our staff member."

Another serious Iranian espionage case was revealed on Thursday within two hours of the first one. An indictment was filed against a resident of the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak, Asher Binyamin Weiss, who is accused of tracking an Israeli nuclear scientist at the direction of Iranian agents to assassinate him.

Weiss faces charges of contact with a foreign agent, providing intelligence to the enemy, and obstruction of justice.

He reportedly used a GoPro camera to record the scientist's home and vehicle. He sent the documentation to an Iranian agent. The agent then transferred the footage to a young man from the Arab neighbourhood of Beit Safafa in southern Jerusalem on the road to Bethlehem, who was tasked with carrying out the assassination.

According to the indictment, Weiss also under Iranian direction allegedly set vehicles on fire, threw pipes onto Israeli roads, sprayed graffiti, and posted hundreds of posters in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan with messages of incitement calling for civil rebellion.

Weiss received thousands of dollars in digital cryptocurrency for his efforts on behalf of the Islamic Republic after he proved to the agents he had completed the actions.

The prosecutors' office requested to extend his detention until the end of the legal proceedings against him "because this case joins a series of serious indictments that have been filed in recent weeks, as part of an uncompromising fight waged by the state attorney's office against those who seek to harm the security of the state."

Last week, seven Arabs from Jerusalem were arrested by Israeli security forces on suspicion of plotting to murder scientists and officials on behalf of the Islamic Republic.

The suspects, ranging in age from 17 to 23, from the neighbourhood of Beit Safafa in eastern Jerusalem, were allegedly asked by Tehran to kill a nuclear scientist and the mayor of a large city.

The leader of the terror squad, 23-year-old Rami Alian, confessed to the charges, stating during interrogation that he “felt proud that an Iranian approached him,” according to Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster.

Separately, seven Israeli Jews, including two minors aged 16 and 17, as well as a father and son, have been in custody since September on suspicion of conducting espionage for Iran in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Earlier this month, a prosecutor’s statement was submitted against them, with a request to extend their detention until the end of the proceedings, while the security establishment investigates how they operated for two years under the radar of the Shin Bet, IDF, police and Mossad.

The suspects were identified as Aziz Nisanov, Alexander Sadikov, Yigal Nisan, Vyacheslav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yoffe. Two of the suspects were not named as they are minors. All are Israeli Jews who immigrated from Azerbaijan.

Also in October, the Israel Police announced that Vladimir Verhovski, 35, a resident of Petah Tikvah in central Israel, had been arrested for plotting to assassinate a prominent figure at the direction of Tehran. The suspect had allegedly agreed to murder an Israeli scientist in exchange for $100,000, and had already acquired a weapon to carry out the hit.

In August, authorities arrested a Jewish businessman on suspicion of having met with Iranians and assisting them in planning high-profile assassinations, including of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Moti Maman, 73, from the southern city of Ashkelon, visited the Islamic Republic twice in recent months, where he demanded $1 million as a down payment for a series of missions, according to the Shin Bet.

His arrest came as the Shin Bet revealed it had thwarted an attempt by Iranian-backed Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior Israeli security official. According to the agency, the attack involved an explosive device and was intended to be carried out imminently.

In September 2023, Hezbollah terrorists tried to assassinate former defense minister and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon using a remotely detonated bomb in central Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.