Israel’s Mossad revealed on Thursday details of a daring operation, where agents of the espionage agency tracked and interrogated on Iranian soil an Iranian agent who had operated in Cyprus days before being caught, targeting an Israeli businessman.
The Mossad published the identity of the Iranian agent tracked — Yusef Shahabazi Abbasalilu — and also published a short video clip showing Shahabazi Abbasalilu explaining his actions in Cyprus. He was apparently filmed in Iran by Mossad agents.
In the clip, the Iranian agent is saying that he had entered Cyprus with the help of a certain Hassan Shoushtari Zadeh, whose people — Pakistani nationals and others — assisted the agent reaching the south of the island. Shoushtari Zadeh then instructed Shahabazi Abbasalilu to hide his weapon in the house of the Pakistanis, which he did. After that, Shahabazi Abbasalilu received via WhatsApp from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) the identity of the target, and Shoushtari provided him with intelligence for the operation on the whereabouts of the target and how to get to his house in the middle of the night. Shahabazi Abbasalilu says in the film that he operated according to instructions. Once the police were after him, he was instructed to bury his weapon and escape back to Iran.
Cypriot Philenews site first revealed on Sunday that Cypriot intelligence authorities, in cooperation with other foreign agencies, had thwarted a terror plot believed to be linked to the IRGC. A few hours later, the Mossad acknowledged assisting Cypriot authorities in foiling an Iranian-planned attack targeting Israeli and Jewish targets in the country.
