Georgia Says Plot To Kill Israeli Citizen By IRGC Foiled
Georgia’s security officials said Tuesday they have foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate an Israeli citizen on their soil.
Georgia’s security officials said Tuesday they have foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate an Israeli citizen on their soil.
The murder had been planned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Quds Force which conducts overseas operations of the IRGC.
The plan was to kill Itzik Moshe, a businessman who worked to advance Israel-Georgia ties.
The State Security Service of Georgia released a statement on Tuesday saying the man planning the attack has been arrested, and the one who apparently ordered the murder is identified as an Iranian national working outside Georgia.
The security agency also said several people were arrested in the course of the investigation, including Georgians who held dual citizenship with Iran or Pakistan.
Dual Iranian-Georgian citizens residing in Georgia delivered weapons to a Pakistani hit man without meeting him directly; rather, they used hiding places for the weapon transfer, added the statement.
The news from Georgia came months after Israeli and Turkish intelligence agencies worked together to stop an Iranian plot to assassinate Israeli tourists in Istanbul. Jerusalem warned Israelis not to visit Turkey in June, and soon after, Turkey arrested eight members of an Iranian cell in hotel rooms in a popular tourist district, with weapons and ammunition.
Last October, Cyprus foiled an Iranian plot to attack Israelis, including billionaire Teddy Sagi, which Tehran denied. Cypriot authorities arrested a Russian-Azeri man who had a loaded pistol with a silencer in his rented car.
This ship was transiting from Iran along a route in the Gulf of Oman that has been used to traffic weapons to Yemen's Houthi group, reported Reuters.
Releasing a statement on Tuesday, US Navy's Fifth Fleet said its forces found over 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate on the vessel that is generally used to make rocket and missile fuel, as well as explosives.
“This was a massive amount of explosive material, enough to fuel more than a dozen medium-range ballistic missiles depending on the size,” said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.
A Saudi-led military coalition battling the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen since 2015 has repeatedly accused Tehran of supplying weapons to the group, but the Islamic Republic denies the accusation.
The Islamic Republic has not commented on the accusation yet.
The Fifth Fleet further noted that four Yemeni crew were onboard the vessel which was also carrying 100 tons of urea fertilizer that is used in agriculture but also for making explosives.
US forces sank the ship on Sunday in the Gulf of Oman as it was a "hazard to navigation for commercial shipping" and its crew were handed over to the Yemen coast guard, it added.
Last December, the Fifth Fleet seized a shipment of rifles and ammunitions from a fishing boat. It announced that the cargo is believed to be sent by the Islamic Republic for the Houthis.
Minister of Public Safety of Canada, Marco Mendicino, in a news release on Monday said Canada has designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as a regime that has engaged in “terrorism and systematic and gross human rights violations.”
“This means that tens of thousands of senior members of the Iranian regime, including many members of the IRGC, are now inadmissible to Canada,” added Mendicino.
The list of senior officials encompasses a wide array of individuals in a regime that stands accused of perpetrating crimes against the people of Iran and other nations.
According to the Canadian government, heads of state, members of the Cabinet, ambassadors, senior diplomats, members of the judiciary, senior military and intelligence officials and senior public servants are included in the list.
“In addition to being banned from entering Canada, current and former senior officials present here may be investigated and removed from the country,” added the press release.
Mendicino, further noted that “Ottawa is taking decisive action by designating the Iranian regime and its most senior officials including the IRGC … and the consequences will be severe.”
He said this is the strongest sanction imposed on the Iranian regime yet, reiterating “we will continue to stand up for women’s rights and fight for justice on behalf of the families of PS752. Canada will be a beacon for human rights around the world.”
Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was a scheduled international civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8 January 2020, it was shot down by the IRGC shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 passengers and crew aboard.
Meanwhile, Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser also asserted in a similar statement that senior officials of the Iranian regime and the IRGC are inadmissible to Canada.
“Canada is a country that many have come to in search of a safer and more prosperous future for them and their loved ones. Canada has a vibrant Iranian population, some of whom fled oppression in the past, and we are determined to take the most effective steps to keep them and all Canadians safe,” added Fraser.
Fraser went on to say that Iranian officials’ actions are reprehensible, and their views have no place in Canadian society.
In another development, Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau in a tweet slammed the brutality of the Iranian government, saying “Canada denounces the Iranian regime’s barbaric decision to impose the death penalty on nearly 15,000 protestors.”
Expressing support for the Iranian protesters, Trudeau underscored that “the brave Iranians were fighting for their human rights – and we continue to stand united in support of them, and united against the regime’s heinous actions.”
The nationwide uprising, largely led by women, has seen daily protests in cities across Iran calling for an end to rule by hardline clerics in the aftermath of the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of morality police in September.
Back in October, Canada announced sanctions against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), permanently banning over 10,000 of its officers from entering Canada.
At the time, Trudeau said Canada has had designated Iran's IRGC leadership, adding that “we will restrict financial transactions with the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the IRGC and the proxies that support them. These actions are some of the strongest measures anywhere against Iran.”
