TEL AVIV - Seven Israeli citizens were arrested last month on suspicion of spying for Iran for as long as two years, carrying out hundreds of tasks at the behest of the Islamic Republic, prosecutors said on Monday.
“This is one of the most severe cases we’ve ever investigated. There is a real possibility that the main charge will be aiding the enemy in wartime, for which the penalty is death or life imprisonment,” said Chief Superintendent Yaron Binyamin, who heads the Lahav 433 serious crimes unit of the Israel Police.
The suspects, all residents of Haifa and the north who emigrated from Azerbaijan, include a soldier who deserted the military, as well as two minors aged 16-17. They performed some 600 missions over two years, authorities said. The adult suspects were named as Azis Nisanov, Alexander Sadykov, Vyacheslav Gushchin, Yevgeny Yoffe and Yigal Nissan, while the minors were left unnamed.
According to suspicions, one Israeli was originally recruited to the spy work by someone in Azerbaijan, who put the Israeli in contact with a Turkish intermediary who called himself “Alkhasan,” after which the rest of the ring was recruited.
The suspects are accused of photographing and collecting information on IDF bases and facilities, including the Kirya defense headquarters in Tel Aviv and the Nevatim and Ramat David air bases, on behalf of Iranian agents with whom they were in contact through the Turkish intermediary.