Two Ashkelon residents charged with spying for Iran

Police and the Shin Bet announce the arrest of two Ashkelon residents accused of carrying out “espionage missions on behalf of Iranian intelligence” in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Israeli citizen Tamerlan Amshukov and Ukrainian citizen Alina Kushnirko were arrested last month by the police’s international investigations unit and Lahav 433 major crimes unit, and were indicted today at the Tel Aviv District Court, police and the Shin Bet say in a statement.

Amshukov was in contact with an Iranian agent “over the past few months” and received thousands of shekels to go to Eilat and buy an advanced phone with a high-resolution camera that he used to photograph “sensitive sites,” including the Eilat port and Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl military cemetery and museum, according to the statement.

He took the photos “at the instruction and on behalf of” an Iranian agent, the statement says.

Some of the missions were carried out by both Amshukov and Kushnirko, the statement adds, without specifying.

The statement also does not specify the amount the two allegedly received, or their alleged means of communication with the Iranian agent.

Dozens of people have been arrested in recent months on suspicion of spying for Iran, often in exchange for several hundred dollars from agents contacted via the Telegram chat app.

The alleged crimes typically start with vandalism and photographing locations, and have sometimes escalated to murder plots targeting current or former Israeli officials.

Security officials have recently warned some Israeli ministers and other officials that Iran was attempting to physically harm them, according to Hebrew media.