Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) recently uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate an Israeli-Turkish businessman using a network of alleged hitmen, Turkish pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah reported on Friday.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The purpose of the alleged assassination plot was reportedly to avenge the assassination of chief Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020, which was widely attributed to Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency.
Yair Geller, an Istanbul-based tycoon with "investments in the machine and defense industries," was the target of a nine-person network that tracked his every move for months, Daily Sabah reported.
Security sources told Daily Sabah that MIT agents ran a months-long counter-surveillance operation before recently capturing the members of the Iranian network.
One MIT official, according to Daily Sabah, said the Iranian network had completed the reconnaissance stage of its mission and that his agency had reached out to Mossad to inform the Israelis that the Iranians were moving to the next step in their plan.
Officials from the two intelligence agencies reportedly held a secret meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara and decided to move Geller to a safe house, where Mossad operatives would provide him protection.
Geller, according to the report, declined the Israeli government's offer to relocate him to Israel for his safety, saying he would not leave Istanbul.
Most of the members of the Iranian network were Turkish nationals "except for S.M.B., a 44-year-old Iranian man accused of running the network," Daily Sabah reported, adding that another suspect with ties to the Iranian intelligence service remained at large and is accused of managing the network from Iran.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, 16 people went on trial in Istanbul charged with "political and military" espionage on behalf of Israel.
The defendants, including Palestinians and Syrians, were arrested in October in an operation by MIT, according to Daily Sabah and other Turkish media outlets. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The suspects allegedly spied on Palestinian and Turkish students and other people on behalf of Israel, operating in five separate groups. Some of the suspects allegedly met with Israeli officials in Switzerland, Croatia, Romania and Kenya.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
