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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat

Israel Unveils Identity of Iranian Accused of Attempting to Assassinate Jewish Businessman

Tbilisi, capital of Georgia (Reuters)

Intelligence sources in Tel Aviv unveiled the identity of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) commander, accusing him of planning to assassinate the head of the Israel-Georgia Chamber of Business, Itsik Moshe, last year.

Israeli sources said these statements aim to revive the Iranian issue, including threatening the generals running the war with Israel.

Israeli website specializing in security and intelligence affairs, Intelli Times, said that General Hossein Rahaban, born in 1977, is the head of IRGC's Quds Force Unit 400.

Intelligence said that he was behind the assassination attempt that targeted Moshe, which was thwarted by Georgia security services on November 15 last year.

Moshe holds dual Israeli and Georgian nationalities.

Georgia security services carried out a campaign of arrests and confiscated ammunition, weapons, and smartphones.

The investigations revealed Rahban had set up a cell to assassinate Moshe and assigned one of his unit members to carry out the operation, providing him with the necessary funding.

He carried out the operation in a way that prevented the cell members from meeting face-to-face, making it easier to hide traces. They could transfer weapons to the cell by hiding them in caches.

The man tasked with the operation arrived in Georgia via a third country, which it did not name.

Senior Israeli officials confirmed that the targeted man had previously been the target of another assassination attempt planned by the al-Quds Force and the IRGC intelligence unit because of his role in boosting relations between Georgia and Israel.

According to the Walla website in Tel Aviv, Moshe currently runs a pro-Israel organization from Tbilisi and has other business activities in Georgia.

The site pointed out that he was close to many Israeli politicians, including Likud MK David Bitan, head of the Knesset Economics Committee.

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