Moti Meman, the 73-year-old from Ashkelon who is accused of being recruited by Iran to assassinate Israeli officials, including the prime minister, the defense minister and the head of the Shin Bet, was plagued by financial problems and owed tens of thousands of shekels – according to the indictment filed today (Thursday ) at the district court in Beer Sheva.
Against the background of his financial situation, according to the indictment, Maman, on his own initiative, turned to Andrey Farouk Aslan and Junaid Aslan, two Turkish citizens, to offer them to carry out various financial transactions in different fields.
Andrey claimed that he maintains an ongoing relationship with “Eddy”, a rich man with many connections who lives in Iran, and who can offer business opportunities of great economic value for Maman.
Moti Maman. A defendant who was recruited by Iran to assassinate an Israeli senior official, photo: Dodo Greenspan
Maman flew from Israel to Larnaca in Cyprus and from there crossed the border crossing to the Turkish side of the island. He continued towards the city of Zaugma (Samandağ) in Turkey, with the aim of meeting with Eddie, Andrei and Junaid.
During the month of April, Muti met in Turkey with two other people (referred to in the indictment as “Gali” and “the other”), who were sent for this purpose by Eddy, and in the presence of Andrey and Junaid. The meeting was held in Turkey because Eddy told Maman on several occasions that he could not leave Iran for Turkey due to “legal difficulties”.
At this point, Maman’s partner joined the meetings. At the end of April, the two flew to Cyprus – this in order to continue with another flight to Belarus, where the partner was living at the time.
Map of the route of the spy Motti Maman, photo: .
After Maman and his partner arrived in Larnaca, Maman “talked” with Eddie through voice messages on WhatsApp that were forwarded to him through Andrey. Edi urged the financier to return to Turkey and meet with him for the purpose of promoting joint business. He was convinced.
Arriving in Turkey and crossing the border
On May 1, Maman took off from Larnaca to Adana in Turkey, where he met Junaid, Andrey, Gali and “the other”. The four drove him to the city of Van in eastern Turkey, and from there to a hotel belonging to the Hilton chain in the village of Yüksekova, located 40 kilometers from the land border crossing with Iran: “Terminal Border Sero”.
Maman stayed with the four at the hotel. His meals and stay were financed by Gali. He talked to Eddy through Andrei’s cell phone and Eddy begged the financier to trust him and come to Iran.
Finance in court. Was smuggled back and forth four times at the border crossing between Turkey and Iran, photo: Dodo Greenspan
On May 5, Neot Maman arrived in Iran in order to meet with Eddy, thinking that this would promote his business. He arrived at the border crossing with Junaid and was smuggled across the border by Gali and others, without presenting his passport or going through border control.
The Revolutionary Guards at a demonstration in Tehran, photo: Reuters
A few minutes after crossing the border, he met Eddie, who was accompanied by a man named Haja, who was acting on behalf of the Iranian security apparatus.
The Iranian villa – and the first conversation with Eddie
Maman drove with Edi, Haja and Junaid to a luxurious villa near the border, and from there to a luxurious hotel, which he was told was owned by Edi. Maman continued to emphasize his economic motive for coming to Iran and Adi asked Maman about his willingness to carry out tasks for the Iranian regime.
Eddie talked with Maman about the possibility of carrying out the following tasks on Israeli soil:
these tasks, so that they know that the source of the funds is in the Iranian regime.
Maman replied to Eddie that he will check how the tasks can be carried out and will reply to him. After the meeting, Maman was re-smuggled through the border crossing – by hiding it in the front of a transport truck.
Netanyahu and Gallant (archive). The Iranians asked Maman to help assassinate them, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Upon Maman’s return to the “Hilton” hotel in Turkey, Andrey handed him 1,300 dollars in cash, while informing Maman that this was a partial payment on Eddie’s behalf.
On May 6, he took off from Maine to Istanbul, from where he continued to his partner in Belarus. On the 7th of May the two will be in Israel.
The second trip to Iran
Between his return to Israel and August 23, Meman was in telephone contact with Andrey, who was in Iran at the time trying to promote a business relationship with Eddie.
Following prior coordination, on August 22 Maman purchased plane tickets through his partner and flew to the city of Van in Turkey. From there he went to the hotel again, where he met with its operators in May.
Maman again spoke to Eddie through Andrei’s phone. Edi urged the defendant to cross the border crossing and meet him on Iranian soil. Eddy indicated that they would be able to talk about “additional issues”, following their conversation in May. It was clear that this was a criminal-security context.
The first meeting with the agents of the Revolutionary Guards
The next day, August 24, at six in the morning, Meman drove with Andrei to the border crossing. He left his mobile phone in the vehicle that remained on the Turkish side, along with his passport and other personal belongings.
Meman was put by a man sent on Gali’s behalf into the driver’s cabin of a truck, and he lay on a bunk in the back of the cabin – and thus was smuggled back into Iranian soil.
Upon his arrival in Iran, Maman met Haja and Badi. Later, he again traveled together with Andrei, Haja and Adi, to the Iranian villa.
During the trip, Edi informed Maman that two Iranian intelligence officers who had specially come from Tehran for this purpose, were supposed to arrive at the villa in order to meet Maman. Eddy said that the two come with an “open check” and suggested that the financer demand an advance of one million dollars from them, for tasks that he would be asked to perform by them.
At the villa, Gali served a hearty meal to the defendant. After the meal was over, two people arrived at the villa, whose identity is unknown and who acted on behalf of the Iranian regime’s intelligence agencies. They were introduced to Maman as Iranian intelligence officers.
During the meeting between Maman and the Iranian agents, in the presence of Eddy, Junaid, and Haja, Maman claimed that he had connections in the underworld and that he knew “many people”, this in order to convince them that he was able to carry out tasks and so that he could receive sums of money from the Iranian agents high
The agents asked a financier to carry out some terrorist operations for Iran on Israeli soil. The defendant asked for an advance of $1 million, but the agents asked him to provide an advance of $150,000.
The agents discussed with Maman the possibility of assassinating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, or Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
Head of the Shin Bet Ronan Bar. The Iranians asked Maman to assassinate him, photo: Koko
This discussion took place while the Iranian agents pointed out the exact names and positions of the senior officials (one of the agents also spoke in Hebrew). Finances the possibility of harming the aforementioned personalities, claiming that their level of security will not allow them to be harmed as requested.
The agents asked Maman if he knew the city of Ra’anana, and when he replied in the affirmative, they suggested that he assassinate former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who lives there, with an explosive device.
Maman repeated his demand to receive an advance of one million dollars before performing any action. The agents agreed to offer a sum of between 300 and 400 thousand dollars as a down payment for the assassination of Bennett. However, Maman refused this financial offer.
The agents’ statement: This is how Iran will avoid a war with Israel
The agents made it clear to Maman that his assassination of one of the officials they mentioned would be, for the leaders in Tehran, revenge for the assassination of the head of Hamas’ political bureau Ismail Haniyeh on July 31, and thus “Iran will avoid starting a war with the State of Israel.”
The Iranian agents emphasized that the demand of their senders is the elimination of a “senior Israeli figure”.
The agents discussed with Maman the possibility of assassinating the mayor of Nahariya, or the mayor of Acre, with an explosive device, after Maman falsely claimed to Edi that he lived in Nahariya. Maman, for his part, insisted on receiving a financial advance of one million dollars before performing any action.
The agents said that such an elimination would lead to the Israeli public believing that an Iranian operational cell is roaming the country carrying out deadly operations on Israeli soil. They told him that this action might prevent the outbreak of war between Iran and Israel.
The meeting ended in the evening, without any agreement being reached between the Iranian agents and Meman regarding the advance. Immediately after the agents left the villa, Eddie claimed that the agents would “come back like dogs” and beg Maman to act for them.
The luxury meal at the hotel – and the second meeting with the agents
After the meeting, Edi allocated an entire floor in the hotel for Maman and Andrey, and took care of their entertainment, which included many waiters who honored him with delicacies and plenty of drink.
Naftali Bennett. Maman was asked to eliminate him in Ra’anana with an explosive device, photo: Gideon Markowitz
The next day Eddie informed the defendant that the Iranian agents had returned to the villa. Meman traveled again with Eddy and Andrey to the villa, where he met with the agents, and discussed with them the following actions:
Due to Maman’s demand for an advance in the amount of one million dollars, the meeting did not mature into an agreement regarding the implementation of a concrete activity. Maman demanded that the Iranian agents get a cell phone, but they refused and announced that they would be the ones to contact him in the future.
Before leaving Iranian soil, Maman received 2,000 euros from Adi and another 3,000 euros from Haja, for his agreement to attend meetings with Iranian agents.
On August 26, Maman returned with Andrey to the border crossing and crossed into Turkish territory, without presenting his passport at the border and without registering at the border inspection. For the purpose of smuggling the accused across the border, the accused was given by Gali or someone else on his behalf a yellow binder intended to appear as a binder of truck drivers passing through the border crossing, with which Maman crossed the border crossing on foot.
After returning to Larnaca, he stayed in the city for two days before flying to Israel.
Upon his landing in Natav, on August 28, he was arrested by the police and Shin Bet. For now, he is charged with contacting a foreign agent and entering an enemy country without permission.
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