Iran’s paramilitary forces reportedly plotted to kidnap an Iranian-Israeli journalist by luring him to Turkey and then smuggling him into Iran, but abandoned the plan when an intermediary they recruited to participate in the plot refused to participate.
According to the IranWire dissident news site, Babak Itzhaki, the Israeli correspondent for London-based Iran International — another opposition outlet reporting about Iran — was the target of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) plot.
The IRGC reportedly tried to recruit Mohammad Hashemzadeh, a former Iranian political prisoner who once studied with Itzhaki, to lure him and another unnamed journalist, also from Iran International, to a border city in Turkey.
Hashemzadeh, currently detained in Armenia, refused to participate in the plot. He then discussed the attempt with another Iranian journalist, who in turn told Channel 12 that the prisoner had said: “They expect me to take Babak to Turkey, and from there they’ll bring him to Iran.”
Speaking to Channel 12 on Sunday, Itzhaki said he wasn’t surprised by the plot, telling the Israeli outlet, “This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time they plan to kidnap me. They threaten all Iran International employees around the world.”
The correspondent was targeted by Iranian intelligence in an operation uncovered by the Shin Bet security agency in early 2022, which involved four Jewish Israelis who were recruited by Iranian intelligence to carry out espionage missions across the country for small payments. Among their revealed targets were the Iran International news outlet and Itzhaki himself.
In his work for Iran International, Itzhaki has interviewed leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former president and convicted sex offender Moshe Katsav.
Speaking to the Ynet news site on Sunday, Itzhaki said, “I tip my hat to the security services, they’re watching over me, and they’re always in touch with me.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t see the same from the government ministries,” he said, complaining that no public officials had contacted him about the plot.
The journalist noted previous attempts by the Islamic Republic to harm Iran International employees and said the outlet poses a unique threat to the regime.
“We broadcast using about 15 satellites to Iran, no one can block us. Even the most remote villages, if they have a little dish they can watch us. They know that for real news they need to open Iran International. The [regime] sees this and they want to silence us,” he said.
Still, he said, ” “Neither threats nor acts of terror will stop our exposure of the truth. I will continue to work and to bring the truth to Iran.”
Last year, Channel 12 reported that Israeli security officials gave intelligence to the United Kingdom suggesting that Iran intended to harm journalists at Iran International, leading them to move their studios from London to Washington, DC.
At the time, the dissident outlet said it was experiencing an escalation of “state-backed threats from Iran,” which has declared it a terrorist organization. The station resumed operations at a new location in London last September.
Source » timesofisrael