Israel accuses Iran of plotting terror attack against Jews in Cyprus

Israel, on Monday, accused its regional adversary Iran of plotting to kill Israelis in Cyprus after police there arrested a man suspected of carrying out terror attacks. In a statement, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said “an act of terror was orchestrated by Iran against Israeli businesspeople” living on the island. However, it stopped short of admitting that the attack was targeted on Teddy Sagi. 

Previously, Israel’s Channel 12 had reported that Sagi, who owes a giant debt to Russians, was the target of the attack but had fled the country after being tipped off. Interestingly, the now detained suspect was reported to be an Azeri, holding a Russian passport. Meanwhile, addressing media reporters Cypriot police chief Stelios Papatheodorou said that the suspect was arrested on September 27 in the country capital Nicosia when he was trying to cross from Turkish controlled North to south. 

He further revealed that one pistol and cartridges were found in the unnamed suspect’s possession. In the aftermath, he has been presented before a magistrates court which approved an eight-day remand request from police last week. Notably, any request to increase his remand would need the law enforcers to appeal in the court. 

Addressing the media regarding the same, the country’s foreign minister Yair Lapid indirectly credited Israeli Intelligence for the capture. “There are security threats” but there was the Shin Bet, the Mossad and other security forces that know how to handle them,” he said.”The fact is that we’re there. We’re minding matters.” 

Israel-Iran shadow war

Ever since its establishment, the state of Israel has been involved in a shadow war with Iran. For years, both have traded barbs in international summits and blamed each other for killing officials by launching explosions. Israel has accused Iran of perpetuating terrorism and flouting nuclear guidelines to alter the status quo in the middle east in its favour. Meanwhile, Tehran has accused the Jewish leadership of being the regional bully and killing its top nuclear scientist. Additionally, the Islamic leadership has also accused the zionist intelligence and security forces of conspiring and executing secret operations on Iranian territory. 

Image: AP