After maintaining romantic and cultural ties to Iran for over a decade, a man was indicted at the Lod District Court on Sunday for contact with a foreign agent and passing along information to the enemy with the intention of harming state security.
The man, unidentified, made aliyah from Iran to Israel in 1999 and still has family in Iran today. He was arrested on July 1, joining a concerningly growing list of Israelis carrying out operations at the instruction of Iranian agents.
Around 2013, while on a visit to Turkey, he approached the Iranian embassy to inquire how he could visit the Islamic Republic. He then received official documents and forms from the embassy at the time.
From 2015-2025, he had a romantic relationship with an Iranian woman living in Iran. They spoke on a daily basis through Telegram, Google Meet, and WhatsApp. The two also met several times in different countries, including Turkey, Dubai, and Thailand.
At some point after September 10, 2024, Iranian authorities asked that she arrange a meeting between them in Turkey. The defendant ran several different Telegram accounts under his name.
Around April, a connection was made between the defendant and an Israeli identified only as “YN” (Y) through Telegram, “based on the fact that he [Y] speaks Farsi and is very familiar with Iranian culture,” reads the indictment.
The defendant translated several texts in Farsi for Y, and the two spoke at length about the situation in Iran as the war exacerbated and the relations between the Islamic Republic and Israel.
Around November, “once trust had been established between the two,” the defendant helped Y translate Telegram messages with “AR” (A), who presented himself as an Iranian sailor. A told Y he had information that could theoretically help Israel.
Defendant met with two Iranian agents in Turkey, was given instructions
Between September 9 and 10, 2024, the defendant met in Turkey with two Iranian agents, “as he was fully aware that they were enemy representatives.” During this meeting, the Iranian agents gave the defendant a specific username to use on Telegram so they could maintain steady communication.
After the September meeting in Turkey and until July 1, 2025, the defendant initiated contact with an Iranian agent several times and relayed the impression that Y had connections with Israeli parliamentarians.
The Iranian agent asked the defendant to pass along information on various different topics. The defendant obliged. This included the knowledge that the Nevatim air base was hit during the Iranian missile attacks. Nevatim was struck in Iran’s first two missile barrage attacks, on April 13-14, 2024, and September 1, 2024. The Israeli response came on September 26.
Additionally, around May, the defendant warned the Iranian agent that Israel was planning to attack the Islamic Republic, that it was preparing for a ground operation at Iranian nuclear sites, and that the Iranian missiles that reach Israel travel through Azerbaijan.
The defendant also told the agent of his relationship with Y and A, including passing along A’s Telegram contact information, and told the agent to “keep an eye on him.”
On June 12, the Israeli gov’t decided to attack Iran in the operation that was later named “Rising Lion.” Iran’s missile response came on June 13-14 and targeted military and civilian sites in Israel. Twenty-nine people were killed, over 1,500 were injured, and there were widespread damages.