An Iranian woman was arrested after she left her suitcase unattended at the Brussels airport, sparking an evacuation of the departures hall which lasted for about two hours, according to Ynet.
While Belgian media reported that the airport was reopened after the incident was determined as a false alarm, Ynet later reported that the suspicious suitcase which caused the evacuation was owned by an Iranian woman who had already departed on a flight to Qatar. The suitcase was reportedly found by an El Al security guard.
The flight the Iranian woman was on was reportedly turned back to Brussels and the woman was arrested. The suitcase in question was found to contain only packages of alcohol.
Sources in El Al’s security system in Brussels told Ynet that the incident was an attempt by Iran to test the security system at the airport and to gather intelligence.
Despite the report by Ynet, Gilles Blondeau of the public prosecutor’s office in Halle-Vilvoorde told Het Laatste Nieuws, a Belgian newspaper, that no evidence had been found to support Ynet’s claims.
Blondeau did confirm, however, that the suitcase belonged to an Iranian woman who was detained for questioning.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was in Brussels on Monday to hold discussions with European Union officials.
In response to questions concerning the incident, Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz told KAN Reshet Bet radio that he thinks that “the Iranian opponent should not be underestimated.”
“They are people who are very determined to do bad, and I don’t think we need to underestimate our abilities to prevent this,” added Ushpiz. “This is a very extended battle.”
Ushpiz did not respond to a question by KAN Reshet Bet concerning whether they had raised the alert level in Israeli embassies in light of the incident in Brussels, instead stressing that the Foreign Ministry is always working to keep staff around the world safe.
The incident comes after a series of incidents in Iran which have been blamed on Israel.
Last week, Iran blamed Israel for a sabotage operation that targeted a building belonging to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) in Karaj last month, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA.
Ali Rabiee, a spokesperson for the Iranian government, said that Israel conducted the operation with the intention of stopping Iran and halting negotiations between Western countries and the Islamic Republic. The spokesperson claimed that Iran’s power has only increased after Israel’s sabotage operations, including operations in the past.
In April, an explosion damaged a large number of centrifuges at a nuclear facility in Natanz.
Two cyberattacks which targeted the Iranian rail service and the Iranian Transportation Ministry were also reported in recent days, although Iranian officials have not blamed a specific party for these attacks.
Iran has threatened to carry out revenge attacks against Israel for a number of incidents it blames on Israel, including two attacks on nuclear facilities at Natanz in the past year and the assassinations of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, among other alleged grievances.
Source » jerusalem post