Iranian attempts to strike Israeli citizens in Turkey last month were reportedly thwarted by Israeli and Turkish security forces. Israeli security authorities alerted their Turkish counterparts of Iran’s intention to carry out an attack on Israelis on Turkish territory and requested their cooperation in thwarting the attacks.
The attacks, according to reports, were organized by an Iranian network functioning in Turkey. Late last month, Israel issued a travel warning to Turkey, fearing that its citizens may be targeted in reprisal for the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps senior commander Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, which has been blamed entirely on Israel.
As per sources, Israel planned to issue a warning to Iran to cease the actions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Core unit. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel prepared for an Iranian retaliation to the Tehran killing by strengthening its air-defence batteries in the north, fearing an Iranian reprisal assault from Lebanon. Because of continuous international allegations indicating that Israelis travelling to Turkey and Cyprus were under threat, the National Security Council issued heightened travel warnings against them.
The assassination of IRGC commander Hassan Sayyad
In May this year, Israel’s secret agency Mossad assassinated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps senior commander Hassan Sayyad Khodaei by entering Iran’s capital Tehran. Iran International announced his death. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei was the mastermind of an attack on an Israeli diplomat in India in 2012. Israel is believed to have avenged the attack by executing Hassan Sayyad.
Hassan Sayyad was the architect behind many high-profile Israeli diplomat attacks. He planned a bomb blast in New Delhi in 2012 to assassinate an Israeli ambassador. The diplomat’s wife was hurt in the incident, as did her driver and two other bystanders.
Following the attack, Khodayari was involved in a series of bomb blasts in Thailand aimed at killing Israeli officials. Hassan was also suspected of being engaged in the deaths and kidnappings of Israelis in Israel, Turkey, Kenya, Colombia, and Cyprus.
