Under the terms of a proposed plea bargain, former Energy Minister Gonen Segev will be convicted on major charges of espionage and supplying information to an enemy state.
On June 18, 2018, the Shin Bet security agency revealed that Segev, 62, had been extradited from Equatorial Guinea the previous month and arrested upon arrival in Israel on suspicion of "committing offenses of aiding the enemy and spying against the State of Israel."
The agency said Segev had contacted officials at the Iranian Embassy in Nigeria in 2012 and visited Iran twice for meetings with his handlers.
The prosecution and the defense in the Segev case have agreed to seek a prison sentence of 11 years, followed by parole. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 11. All other details about the legal proceedings are under a gag order.
At the time of his arrest, Segev claimed that he had briefed Israeli defense officials on his intention to contact Iranian intelligence officials and expected to receive orders from his Israeli handlers.
Segev asserted that not only did his action never compromise Israel's national security, they benefited it. He also said his actions stemmed from his desire to rehabilitate his public image, which was tainted in 2006 when he was imprisoned for drug smuggling.
Iran, for its part, has dismissed the report.
Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht told reporters in Tehran that "the Zionist regime uses every tool to blame the Islamic Republic of Iran. I suggest ignoring these reports."
