Mossad chief David Barnea revealed on Sunday that over the past year, the Israeli spy agency and its allies have foiled 27 attempted attacks by Iran on Israelis and Jewish targets around the world. In an unusually direct threat, Barnea warned that if any Jews or Israelis are hurt in future attacks by Iran or its proxies, Israel will take action against the leadership in Tehran.
Addressing the annual conference of Reichman University's International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, Barnea said, “The squads that were captured, the weapons that were seized together with them, all had clear targets.” He added that the attacks were attempted “all over the world, in Europe, Africa, the Far East and South America.”
In the past few months, Israel and other Western security agencies have thwarted several Iran-affiliated attacks in the region. In March, Greek police arrested two Pakistani nationals for allegedly planning major terror attacks against a Jewish restaurant and Jewish Chabad house in Athens. In June, Cypriot and Israeli security agencies foiled attacks planned by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on several venues frequented by Israelis in Cyprus. In July, Azeri security forces arrested an Afghan national suspected of planning an attack on Israel’s embassy in Baku. Israel reported that Iran had been involved in planning the attack.
“We are witnessing a significant increase in attempts to harm Jews and Israelis around the world, and we are working even now at this very moment to follow Iranian and proxy squads to prevent them from killing Jews and Israelis around the world,” Barnea noted, warning that Israel will “exact a price from Iran in a different way.”
