The Israeli police and the Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced on Thursday the dismantling of a suspected spy network inside Israel that was working for Iranian intelligence, the latest spy group of this type to be announced within weeks.

The Shin Bet and the police explained that in the new incident, an Israeli couple from the town of Lod near Tel Aviv were arrested on charges of collecting intelligence information about infrastructure and security sites, including the headquarters of the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad), in addition to monitoring an academic researcher.

They added that the cell was part of Iran's efforts to recruit people from the Caucasus region.

A Shin Bet source said, “These incidents are in addition to a series of failed attempts that were revealed in recent weeks, in which Israeli citizens were arrested on charges of working for Iranian intelligence agents and carrying out specific tasks on their behalf.”

The investigation showed that one of the pair was tasked with tracking down an academic researcher at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, whom the Iranians wanted to “physically harm,” according to a joint statement by the police and Shin Bet.

Separate task

The statement added that the Iranians separately asked the suspect to search for a killer to carry out a separate mission. Another person of Azerbaijani origin was also recruited by one of the spouses to carry out specific tasks.

The Israeli National Security Institute said it was grateful that the security services prevented a planned attack on a female employee.

The director of the Institute for National Security Studies, General Reserve Tamir Hayman, added, “While the Institute for National Security Studies is an independent research institute, and is not part of the Israeli defense establishment, it is the leading institute for security research in the country, and accordingly, Iran seeks to Harming his employees.”

Israeli security services are investigating 7 Israelis on suspicion of involvement in a “spy network” on behalf of Iran, after they carried out hundreds of missions on its behalf, over a period of two years

The statement stated that the Public Prosecution in the Central District of Israel will submit a strict indictment against the suspects on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Israeli security forces announced the dismantling of two separate spy networks for Iran in Jerusalem and northern Israel.

Israel has a long history of carrying out intelligence operations in Iran, including the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, in a government guest house in Tehran last July. Israel did not claim responsibility for the assassination.