Iranian-born Israeli charged with giving sensitive info on Israel’s war plans to Tehran

By Charlie Summers

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27 July 2025, 12:09 pm

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State prosecutors file espionage charges against an Israeli citizen suspected of passing sensitive information about Israeli war plans to an Iranian intelligence agent.

The suspect’s name and most identifying details are barred from publication. He immigrated from Iran to Israel in 1999 and rekindled ties to his birthplace over a decade later on a trip to Turkey, when he visited the Iranian embassy.

Soon after that, the defendant began a relationship with an Iranian woman living in Iran. He came into contact with Iranian operatives by way of his partner, who was contacted by an agent asking her to arrange a meeting between the defendant and himself.

The defendant met with two Iranian operatives in September 2024, while visiting his partner in Turkey, prosecutors say. After his return to Israel, he maintained contact with one of the agents through the Telegram messaging app.

Prosecutors claim the defendant exploited his preexisting friendship with another Israeli man, who supposedly has ties to government figures.

The defendant’s associate was also in contact with an Iranian chemist who provided intelligence that could aid Israel against Iran. He requested the defendant’s help in translating his correspondence with the chemist from Farsi to Hebrew.

The suspect ratted out the Iranian chemist to the intelligence agent, sharing the information he was asked to translate and advising his contact to “keep an eye on him,” per the indictment.

In May 2025, a month before Israel’s air offensive against Iran, the defendant told his Iranian contact that Israel planned to carry out an attack in Iran. He later updated the agent that Israel was planning a commando operation targeting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

Police arrested the suspect on July 1. He is charged in the Lod District Court with the offenses of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and passing intelligence to the enemy with the intent to harm state security.