Türkiye Detains Seven Suspected of Selling Information to Israel’s Mossad, Anadolu Says 

A food street seller grills fishes as he waits for customers next to the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP)
A food street seller grills fishes as he waits for customers next to the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP)
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Türkiye Detains Seven Suspected of Selling Information to Israel’s Mossad, Anadolu Says 

A food street seller grills fishes as he waits for customers next to the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP)
A food street seller grills fishes as he waits for customers next to the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Türkiye, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (AP)

Turkish police have detained seven people, including a private detective, suspected of selling information to Israel's Mossad intelligence service, state-owned Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday.

Anadolu cited security sources as saying the private detective, a former public servant, was suspected of gathering information on Middle Eastern companies and individuals in Türkiye, placing tracking devices and engaging in surveillance.

The sources said the detentions were part of an operation carried out by Türkiye’s national intelligence agency MIT and Istanbul counter-terror police.

Ankara made no official statement on the operation. Israel did not immediately comment on the Anadolu report.

The Turkish detective was trained by Mossad in the Serbian capital Belgrade and received payments in cryptocurrency that did not appear in official records, the sources said.

A Turkish court in January ordered the arrest of 15 people and the deportation of eight others suspected of having links to Mossad and targeting Palestinians living in Türkiye. In February, Türkiye detained seven suspected of selling information to Mossad.

Turkish and Israeli leaders have traded public barbs since Israel's war with the Palestinian group Hamas began last October. Ankara has warned Israel of "serious consequences" if it tries to hunt down Hamas members living outside the Palestinian territories, including in Türkiye.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.