Iranian spy network – Israeli couple and Bnei Barak resident charged with spying for Tehran

The Israel Police on Thursday permitted the release of an indictment filed against an Israeli couple from the city of Lod, in central Israel, on charges of spying for Iran. 

The arrest of the couple came as part of a joint counterterrorism operation by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the National Unit for the Investigation of Serious and International Crimes (YAHBAL), and the Lahav 433 Cyber Unit of the Israel Police. 

The couple, Rafael and Lala Guliyev, both about 32 years old, carried out intelligence-gathering missions on important security and national infrastructure sites, including the Mossad headquarters, and collected information about an academic individual affiliated with the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). 

According to the indictment, Iran marked the individual as a target for possible assassination and asked Rafael to find someone to carry out the task. The identity of the academic was not allowed to be released. 

The Guliyevs reportedly transmitted information via Telegram and a dedicated encryption app. 

Israel's State Attorney's Office has requested that the couple be detained until the end of the legal proceedings due to the sensitive nature of the case. 

The couple allegedly conducted missions on behalf of an Iranian group that attempts to recruit Israelis with a background in the Caucasus region. 

According to the information released in the indictment, the Guliyevs received at least $26,000 in compensation for their work. They were recruited by a man named Alshan (Alkhan) Agayev (56) of Azeri descent, who acted as a handler for the Iranian agency. 

While many of the missions were carried out by Rafael, the police reports indicate that his wife Lala assisted him on some assignments. 

Guliyev’s handlers instructed him to make sure communication between them was “kept secret and to act in secrecy so that he would not be discovered or caught.”

The handlers also instructed him on the purchase of a separate phone, cameras, a laptop, and the installation of specially encrypted software for secure communications.

The State Attorney is pursuing a strict ruling against the couple. 

“The defendants committed security offenses at a time when the State of Israel is waging one of the worst wars it has ever known, on many fronts, including Iran,” the arrest request stated. “They were aware that they were agents, elements hostile to the State of Israel, and yet they continued to cooperate with them.” 

In a separate case, an indictment was also filed against Israeli citizen, Asher Benjamin Weiss of Bnei Brak. Weiss is accused of following an Israeli nuclear scientist in order to assassinate him, as instructed by Iranian agents.

Weiss is charged with keeping contact with a foreign agent, providing information to the enemy, and obstruction of justice. 

According to the indictment, Weiss used a GoPro camera to document the home and vehicle of an Israeli nuclear scientist. The identity of the scientist is restricted from public release.

The footage of the scientist was shared by the Iranian agent with one of the seven men arrested over a week ago from Beit Safafa in East Jerusalem, who was tasked with carrying out the assassination. 

Israel Police, Shin Bet and the Mossad have disrupted several Iranian spying and assassination attempts in recent weeks. 

On Oct. 21, police announced the arrest of seven Jewish Israelis accused of spying for Iran. The previous week, another Israeli couple was arrested and charged with sabotage and plotting to assassinate an Israeli leader. 

In September, the police arrested Jewish Israeli businessman Moti Maman, who had been smuggled into Iran twice to meet with handlers in a plot to spy and assassinate Israeli leaders.

Around the same time, the Shin Bet said it had foiled several other assassination plots, but did not release specific details.