Mossad Foils Iranian Attempt to Assassinate Western, Israeli Figures

A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)
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Mossad Foils Iranian Attempt to Assassinate Western, Israeli Figures

A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey April 12, 2022. Picture taken April 12, 2022. (Reuters)

Israeli officials revealed that the Mossad intelligence agency had recently thwarted an Iranian assassination plot against three western and Israeli figures in Turkey, Germany and France.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force had sought to assassinate an Israeli consulate employee in Turkey's Istanbul, a senior American general in Germany and a journalist in France, reported Israel's Ynet and Kan state broadcaster.

Israeli sources confirmed that the Mossad foiled the plot.

The Israeli reports confirm one by the opposition Iran International website that said Tehran had sought to assassinate an Israeli consulate employee in Istanbul.

The website, which is based in London, reported that the Quds Force was to carry out the assassination.

The assailant is part of a secret unit of the Quds Force that "plots and sets up terrorist infrastructure outside Iran" and mainly targets western and opposition figures.

The report added that the assailant was to carry out the assassinations in Istanbul, Germany and France.

He has since been arrested in Europe. He confessed to receiving 150,000 dollars to plan the assassination. He would receive a million dollars after completing the operation with the help of local drug dealers.

The report said this was not the first time Iranians attempt to assassinate Israelis around the world.

Two months ago, Kan reported that Turkish and Israeli intelligence thwarted an attempt to assassinate businessman Yair Geller in retaliation to the killing of Iranian nuclear chief Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020.

Iran has also been blamed for hampering attempts at normalizing relations between Turkey and Israel.

Iran has vowed to retaliate to the 2020 assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.

He was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in January 2020.

Tehran has also vowed to retaliate to the killing of Fakhrizadeh that it blames on Israel.



Iranian-German Sharmahd Died before His Execution, Iran Judiciary Says

In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)
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Iranian-German Sharmahd Died before His Execution, Iran Judiciary Says

In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on July 31, 2023 a demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. (AFP)

Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd died before his execution, which was announced by Tehran late last month, Iran's judiciary said on Tuesday, according to state media.

State media initially reported the execution of Sharmahd on Oct. 28, following his sentencing to death by Iran's judiciary in 2023 for carrying out "terrorist attacks".

"Jamshid Sharmahd died before the execution of his death sentence," judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said, without providing additional information.

His daughter Gazelle Sharmahd, on X, had demanded proof of his execution and called for the immediate return of her father.

Sharmahd's death exacerbated a diplomatic rift between Tehran and Berlin, with the German authorities closing Iranian consulates across Germany.

Iranian authorities said Sharmahd had headed a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing and planning other attacks in the country.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Iran of playing politics with hostages and of trying to use Germany's support for Israel in the widening Middle East conflict to justify Sharmahd's killing.