Mossad says it foiled Iranian plot to infiltrate Israel, attack senior officials
French criminal Turut Ozkor, who went by ‘Philip,’ was allegedly recruited to gather intel on a target in Israel and carry out an attack, and was subsequently expelled by Paris
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Working with foreign intelligence services, Israel foiled an Iranian plot to send operatives into Israel to harm senior Israeli officials, the Mossad intelligence agency said in a statement on Thursday.
The effort, led by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, involved turning to criminal organizations, who would in turn recruit people inside Israel or who could enter Israel for gathering intelligence on a target, then carrying out an attack.
Two criminals living in Iran under the protection of the Intelligence Ministry — Baba Mahuzadeh Haji Jafan, also known as “Babak”; and Mehmet Nadim Ya’it, also known as “Nadim” — recruited Turut Ozkor, a criminal living in France who went by the nickname “Philip.”
The handlers of Babak and Nadim in the Iranian Intelligence Ministry are named by the Mossad as Asadollah Behzad Oskhari, Vahid Matzoumi, Mohammad-Hossein Zoghi and Hamid Qasemi.
Oskhari was killed in Israel’s 12-day bombing campaign against Iran in 2025 and was a key figure in plots to attack Jewish and Israeli targets worldwide, said the Mossad.
Philip was tasked with recruiting a cell of foreign nationals who would enter Israel, it added.
He traveled to Iran on several occasions to meet handlers and be paid, according to the statement.
Philip was expelled by France, while Babak and Nadim remain in Iran.
“Despite the attempt to avoid an Iranian fingerprint, the proxy method repeatedly demonstrates the carelessness of the operatives on the ground, leading to the exposure of their handlers in Iran,” said the Mossad.
The Mossad worked with Shin Bet and foreign intelligence agencies to uncover the network, the statement added.
Numerous Iranian attempts to direct terror attacks inside of Israel in the past two years have been foiled, according to the Mossad.
Israel previously said that since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, the IRGC has redoubled its efforts to establish terror cells abroad and carry out attacks.
In April, the Mossad and Shin Bet announced that Israel had exposed an Iranian terror network that targeted Israeli officials and assets around the world.
At the time, the intelligence agencies said that senior operatives in the network had been killed during the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.
Prior to that, in October 2025, the Mossad revealed information about a transnational terror network run by the IRGC’s Quds Force that it said was behind a string of recent attacks on Jewish sites in Western countries.
The Times of Israel Community.