Israel Unveils Identity of Iranian Accused of Attempting to Assassinate Jewish Businessman

Tbilisi, capital of Georgia (Reuters)
Tbilisi, capital of Georgia (Reuters)
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Israel Unveils Identity of Iranian Accused of Attempting to Assassinate Jewish Businessman

Tbilisi, capital of Georgia (Reuters)
Tbilisi, capital of Georgia (Reuters)

Intelligence sources in Tel Aviv unveiled the identity of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) commander, accusing him of planning to assassinate the head of the Israel-Georgia Chamber of Business, Itsik Moshe, last year.

Israeli sources said these statements aim to revive the Iranian issue, including threatening the generals running the war with Israel.

Israeli website specializing in security and intelligence affairs, Intelli Times, said that General Hossein Rahaban, born in 1977, is the head of IRGC's Quds Force Unit 400.

Intelligence said that he was behind the assassination attempt that targeted Moshe, which was thwarted by Georgia security services on November 15 last year.

Moshe holds dual Israeli and Georgian nationalities.

Georgia security services carried out a campaign of arrests and confiscated ammunition, weapons, and smartphones.

The investigations revealed Rahban had set up a cell to assassinate Moshe and assigned one of his unit members to carry out the operation, providing him with the necessary funding.

He carried out the operation in a way that prevented the cell members from meeting face-to-face, making it easier to hide traces. They could transfer weapons to the cell by hiding them in caches.

The man tasked with the operation arrived in Georgia via a third country, which it did not name.

Senior Israeli officials confirmed that the targeted man had previously been the target of another assassination attempt planned by the al-Quds Force and the IRGC intelligence unit because of his role in boosting relations between Georgia and Israel.

According to the Walla website in Tel Aviv, Moshe currently runs a pro-Israel organization from Tbilisi and has other business activities in Georgia.

The site pointed out that he was close to many Israeli politicians, including Likud MK David Bitan, head of the Knesset Economics Committee.



US Authorities Arrest Palestinian Student Protester at Columbia University

FILE PHOTO: Students at Columbia University paint a response to a message written by Palestinians in Rafah thanking students for their support as they continue to maintain a protest encampment on campus in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, US, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Students at Columbia University paint a response to a message written by Palestinians in Rafah thanking students for their support as they continue to maintain a protest encampment on campus in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, US, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo
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US Authorities Arrest Palestinian Student Protester at Columbia University

FILE PHOTO: Students at Columbia University paint a response to a message written by Palestinians in Rafah thanking students for their support as they continue to maintain a protest encampment on campus in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, US, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Students at Columbia University paint a response to a message written by Palestinians in Rafah thanking students for their support as they continue to maintain a protest encampment on campus in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in New York City, US, April 28, 2024. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File Photo

Agents from US President Donald Trump's administration arrested a Palestinian graduate student who played a prominent role in last year's pro-Palestinian protests at New York's Columbia University, four fellow students said on Sunday.
The student, Mahmoud Khalil at the university's School of International and Public Affairs, was arrested by US Department of Homeland Security agents at his university residence on Saturday, said undergraduate student Maryam Alwan and three other students who asked not to be identified, citing fears of reprisals.
Khalil has been one of the negotiators with school administrators on behalf of the pro-Palestinian student protesters, who set up a tent encampment on a Columbia lawn last year, Reuters reported.
Khalil's detention appears to be one of the first efforts by Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January, to fulfill his promise to seek the deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement. The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses.
A spokesperson for Columbia said the school was barred by law from sharing information about individual students.
Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, which oversees the country's visa system, did not respond to questions.
In an interview with Reuters a few hours before his arrest on Saturday, Khalil said he was concerned that he was being targeted by the government and some conservative pro-Israel groups for speaking to the media.
The Trump administration on Friday said it had canceled government contracts and grants awarded to Columbia University worth about $400 million. The government said the cuts and the student deportation efforts are because of antisemitic harassment at and near Columbia's Manhattan campus.

Agents from US President Donald Trump's administration arrested a Palestinian graduate student who played a prominent role in last year's pro-Palestinian protests at New York's Columbia University, four fellow students said on Sunday.
The student, Mahmoud Khalil at the university's School of International and Public Affairs, was arrested by US Department of Homeland Security agents at his university residence on Saturday, said undergraduate student Maryam Alwan and three other students who asked not to be identified, citing fears of reprisals.
Khalil has been one of the negotiators with school administrators on behalf of the pro-Palestinian student protesters, who set up a tent encampment on a Columbia lawn last year, Reuters reported.
Khalil's detention appears to be one of the first efforts by Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January, to fulfill his promise to seek the deportation of some foreign students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest movement. The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses.
A spokesperson for Columbia said the school was barred by law from sharing information about individual students.
Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State, which oversees the country's visa system, did not respond to questions.
In an interview with Reuters a few hours before his arrest on Saturday, Khalil said he was concerned that he was being targeted by the government and some conservative pro-Israel groups for speaking to the media.
The Trump administration on Friday said it had canceled government contracts and grants awarded to Columbia University worth about $400 million. The government said the cuts and the student deportation efforts are because of antisemitic harassment at and near Columbia's Manhattan campus.