Cyprus Foils Iran-Linked Terrorist Attack On Israelis
Cyprus has thwarted a terrorist attack aimed at killing citizens of Jewish origin on its territory, according to local media.
Cyprus has thwarted a terrorist attack aimed at killing citizens of Jewish origin on its territory, according to local media.
The perpetrators were reportedly linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) intelligence services.
Coordinated action between US, Israeli and local intelligence services are said to have been going on behind the scenes.
In the past, Israel and Cyprus have worked together to foil Iranian attacks on Israelis. Two years ago, an Azeri national with a Russian passport, who was acting on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, was arrested by Cypriot intelligence services. The hitman was hired to kill an Israeli businessman.
During the last few months, Cyprus' intelligence has closely monitored potential threats, according to the report. It is believed the network arrived in Cyprus via the Turkish occupied north.
Earlier this year, the IRGC accused Israel of assassinating its military adviser Milad Haydari with an airstrike in Syria, vowing to retaliate.
Last June Turkish security forces arrested Iranians suspected of planning terrorist attacks against Israelis. According to the suspects, they were working for an Iranian intelligence cell that planned to kidnap and kill Israeli diplomats and tourists.
Iran has been implicated in many assassinations, kidnappings and terror attacks abroad against dissidents and opponents.
Ahmad Bakhshayesh speaking to Rouydad24, a relatively independent website in Tehran said that "Any country that has tensions in its relations with the United States cannot have a serious presence in the world market."
The new rhetoric by some regime insiders appears to be a justification for the Islamic Republic's sudden turn to a limited rapprochement with the United States that is presumably intended to relieve the government from economic pressures of US sanctions.
Washington and Tehran are reportedly in contact to explore a limited unofficial deal to reduce tensions. Iran would promise not to enrich uranium beyond the 60-percent level in exchange for release of its frozen funds abroad that could be as high as $20 billion.
Iran’s annual inflation rate has risen close to 70 percent and its currency has lost 50 percent of its value in the past year.
The conservative politician reiterated: "Harnessing the high rate of inflation requires time and expecting a quick solution to the country's economic problems is unrealistic."
He probably made the statement not to create exaggerated hope among Iranians about the outcome of the limited diplomatic exchanges between Tehran and Washington.
However, not everyone in Iran speaks softly about the West and particularly the United States. "Bad cops" such as IRGC aerospace commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh are still around. Hajizadeh told IRGC-linked Fars News Agency on Thursday: "We have now access to all the sophisticated technologies in the area of defense industry."
This could potentially include the know-how to make a nuclear bomb. Highlighting Iran's dual policy, Hajizadeh said that despite the breakthrough in foreign relations including the restoration of ties with Saudi Arabia, it is meaningful that President Ebrahim Raisi was personally present at the ceremony for showcasing Iran's "hypersonic" Fattah missile.
Welcoming diplomacy, Bakhshayesh maintained that to attract foreign investments, Iran should take certain steps. He did not elaborate, but the preconditions are presumably playing according to the rules of international relations, limiting uranium enrichment, not sponsoring international terrorism, and stopping regional ambitions and weapons development among other things.
Nonetheless, he said, even if measures are taken, it takes at least two to three years before prices begin to come down in the Iranian market.
In another attempt to justify the talks with Washington, Bakhshayesh said Iran used to have trade and investments by other countries including the United Kingdom and Italy. He said although the Raisi administration is trying to improve ties with Iran's neighbors, that is nothing to be compared with the benefits of having trade relations with the West.
He said although countries such as Saudi Arabia are interested in investment in Iran, we should note that Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Qatar are Iran's rivals in the area of exporting oil, so it is in their interest that Iran remains under US sanctions.
Meanwhile, Jomhouri Eslami, the only conservative newspaper that at times criticizes the President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration, wrote Thursday that it is a miracle hardliners are suddenly in favor of talks with the United States, while they used call the previous government a traitor for advocating diplomacy.
The daily pointed out that "Even those who insisted that no one should be allowed to talk about negotiating with the United States following the killing of former IRGC Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, now support the negotiations."
"Thank God that everybody in Iran has returned to the realm of rationality and thinks in terms of the country's national interests."
