Two Israeli Air Force technicians have been charged with spying on behalf of Iran, Israeli authorities announce.
An indictment filed by military prosecutors this morning accuses the pair, who served at the Tel Nof Airbase, of a series of “security offenses on behalf of Iranian intelligence elements.”
One soldier is charged with aiding an enemy in wartime, providing information to an enemy, facilitating contact with a foreign agent, and additional offenses. The second soldier is charged with contact with a foreign agent, providing information to the enemy, and additional offenses.
In a joint statement, the Shin Bet security agency, the IDF, and the police say that the two technicians claimed in their interrogation that contact with their Iranian handlers was severed after they refused to carry out tasks involving weapons.
“However, even after the contact was cut off at the initiative of the handler, they did not cease attempts to renew contact, for the purpose of financial gain,” the statement says.
According to the indictment, over the course of several months, the two soldiers “maintained contact with Iranian intelligence elements and carried out various tasks under their direction in exchange for money.”
The indictment also says that one of the soldiers transferred to an Iranian agent “materials from his military training relating to fighter aircraft systems, as well as documentation of facilities and areas within a military base.”
The investigation was carried out jointly by the Shin Bet, Military Police, and Israel Police. In the joint statement, the authorities say they “again warn Israeli citizens, including soldiers, about the very act of maintaining contact with foreign elements from enemy states, let alone carrying out tasks for them in exchange for payment or any other benefit.”
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