A Turkish court has arrested 14 people on suspicion of collaborating with Iranian intelligence to carry out plans to kidnap Iranian dissidents.
According to what the official Turkish news website TRT Haber reported on Friday, the process of dismantling that cell, numbering 14, was carried out by the country’s intelligence and security forces.
The source stated that this network was working with Iranian intelligence agencies to kidnap Iranian dissidents present in Turkish territory.
Regarding the details of the network’s work, the news website stated that “the Turkish citizen, Ihsan Saglam, owner of a defense company, and the Iranian citizen Morteza Sultan Sinjari works for, were seeking to kidnap Iranian dissidents residing in Turkey.”
He pointed out that “Saghlam and Sinjari received instructions from Seyyed Mahdi Hosseini and Ali Qahramani Hajiabad, who work for the Iranian intelligence.”
He also indicated that “Saghlam and his team received $150,000 intermittently in exchange for kidnapping Iranian dissidents, and that Iranian intelligence officials pledged to pay a sum in exchange for other figures planning to kidnap them.”
The website revealed that “the Iranian dissident, Yaqoub Hafez, who resides in Turkey, is among the people who were handed over through these two men to Iranian intelligence.”
The source pointed out that “the accused, Saglam, tortured the smuggler who transferred Hafez to Turkey in order to facilitate the process of reaching the latter.”
And he continued, “Saghlam and Sinjari later met Hafez and informed him that he was being pursued by Iranian intelligence in order to gain his trust, and they offered to smuggle him with his family to another country, and the opposition man trusted them.”
He added, “While Hafez and his family were thinking of smuggling them to another country through Iraq, it turned out that the smugglers handed him over to Iranian intelligence officers on February 17, 2019”.
Failed kidnapping attempt
The Turkish news website also reported that “Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, who works for Iranian intelligence, instructed Ehsan Saglam and Sinjari to kidnap an Iranian dissident (symbolized by the letters mr) who fled to Turkey while serving in the Iranian navy, and transported him to Iran for one million dollars.”
And the site went on to say: “In October 2019, Hakan Saglam, a member of the kidnapping team, was assigned to approach M. R., who was working in a restaurant in the western Turkish state of Yalova.
He continued, “After that, Hakan began working in the same restaurant and wooed the Iranian opposition figure, introducing him to Ehsan Saglam and Sinjari, who offered him help to smuggle him to the United States.”
The source indicated that “the plan failed following the retired from the Turkish armed forces, Hoday Verdi Cicek, who was commissioned by Iranian intelligence to kidnap the opponent himself, entered the line, in addition to the suspicions of the victim.”
Turkish counter activity
In a related context, the news website stated that “in October 2021, Ali Qahramani Hajiabad, who works for Iranian intelligence, asked Ehsan Saglam to kidnap another Iranian dissident (symbolized by the letters SG) who had fled to Turkey and brought him to Iran.”
And he added, “After Sinjari and his girlfriend Behnaz Ibrahimi Haji Sarayi determined the location of the exhibitions in the province of Zonguldak, northern Turkey, Ihsan Saglam and Kamil Tashk, a member of the Turkish Armed Forces, entered the line.”
He pointed out that “Turkish intelligence revealed the plan and exchanged information with the Anti-Terrorism Branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate.”
The Turkish Intelligence and Security Service launched an operation that resulted in the arrest of two Iranians and 12 Turks, and they were referred to the judicial authorities.
On Wednesday, a Turkish court sentenced the 14 detainees to prison pending investigations, and also issued a warrant for the prosecution of three Iranian citizens.
And Israeli media had said earlier that Turkish intelligence had thwarted an Iranian attempt to target an Israeli businessman on Turkish soil.
And Israeli media said that Turkish intelligence had arrested a cell consisting of 9 individuals that tried to assassinate businessman Yair Giler, who holds Turkish citizenship.
She explained: “It was reported that a group of nine Iranian intelligence agents tracked down Gillier with the aim of assassinating him in retaliation for the liquidation of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.”
