Israel Apprehends Iranian Suspected of Espionage

September 30, 2013

3 min read

Iran spy

Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD; but they that deal truly are His delight. (Proverbs 12:22)

Iran spy
Suspected Iranian spy Ali Mansouri on the Tel Aviv boardwalk near the US Embassy. (Photo: Shin Bet)

Israeli security officials have recently detained an Iranian man holding Belgian citizenship on suspicions that the man is a spy for the Iranian National Guard, according to The Times of Israel. The agent, Ali Mansouri, was reportedly charged with obtaining information on American interests in Israel. Mansouri was apprehended at Ben Gurion International Airport on September 11 by the Shin Bet security service while attempting to depart Israel for Belgium, the security agency said Sunday.

He was traveling under the alias Alex Mans and had been observed photographing the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and recording activity there. He was found with photographs of the US embassy and other sites.

Due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech at the United Nations General Assembly, which will focus heavily on the Iranian threat, an Israeli court has lifted the gag order on the Mansouri case to emphasis that Iran is still very much a threat to the Jewish State.

A member of the prime minister’s delegation to New York said Sunday that the arrest was proof that Iranian attempts at detente with the West had not changed its actions on the ground. “At a time when Iran is trying to get closer to the US, it sent an agent to try to gather intelligence in order to carry out a terror attack against the American Embassy in Israel,” the official said. “This is just one further example of Iran’s policy of doublespeak and further proof that Iran’s words do not match its actions.”

Mansouri said during questioning that he was promised $1 million in exchange for his activities inside Israel, and described how he was recruited by the special operations unit of the Revolutionary Guards.

Mansouri said he was deprived of sleep and bound to a chair during Shin Bet investigation, Channel 2 News reported Sunday night. He said he was not hit or hurt during questioning, the report added.

Mansouri’s attorney was quoted by Channel 2 saying that his client’s situation was more complex, but that “he has no agenda against Israel.”

Mansouri has visited Israel several times and was under surveillance by Israeli intelligence. According to the Shin Bet, Mansouri, a businessman, was also looking to establish business interests in Israel that could serve as fronts for Iranian intelligence activities in the Jewish state.

The aim was to establish a front behind which the Revolutionary Guards could operate in Israel, against Israel, Channel 10 news reported Sunday night. A subsequent stage would have been to send terrorists to Israel to carry out attacks, it added.

Mansouri left Iran in 1980, lived in Turkey until 1997 and then moved to Belgium on a business visa, where in 2006 he obtained citizenship and changed his name to Alex Mans, the Shin Bet revealed. In 2007, Mansouri returned to Iran and established an international business with interests in Iran, Belgium and Turkey.

One of the companies Mansouri established was called European Folded Glass System, Channel 2 reported. The company’s amateurish website, which states proudly that EFGS is “Big Company in Europe,” is rife with spelling and grammatical errors. Alex Mans is listed as the manager, and a Belgian address and phone number are given on the site.

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