Teen Accused of Spying for Iran Admits He Knew of Iranian Link: ‘I Just Wanted Money’
New details have emerged from the interrogation of one of two Israeli teenagers charged with carrying out assignments for an Iranian operative, including his admission that he continued performing tasks even after becoming aware of the operative’s connection to Iran. The teen told investigators that he initially thought the individual was a “leftist,” but later acknowledged knowing that he was carrying out assignments for an Iranian agent.
The details, reported by i24NEWS, emerged Sunday following the filing of an indictment against the two minors. During questioning, the teenager described the assignments he performed, the point at which he began suspecting the person directing him, and his actions after realizing that the individual was connected to Iran.
“After I sent him videos of the mall in Herzliya, I deleted everything because I was afraid he would carry out an attack. When he asked me to photograph a mall in Tel Aviv, the number of exits and the guards, I started to suspect – I stopped sending messages and deleted the chat”, the minor told investigators.
Despite those suspicions, however, the teenager remained in contact with the operative. When an investigator asked why he continued carrying out assignments, the teen said the individual contacted him through another username and proposed that he establish a Telegram channel to recruit other teenagers.
“He contacted me from another username and suggested that I open a Telegram channel and think of ways to recruit more teenagers for jobs. He transferred 900 shekels to me so that I would buy a phone, and I forged a KSP receipt”, he said.
Investigators also questioned the teen about his assertion that he had not initially realized he was communicating with an Iranian operative and had instead believed the person was a “leftist.” An investigator confronted him with a message in which the teenager himself had written: “A trick on the Iranian.”
The teen responded: “I called him that, but I still wasn’t sure he was Iranian”.
Later in the interrogation, an investigator confronted the teenager with the issue directly, asking: “Do you confirm to me that you carried out tasks for an Iranian agent knowing that he was Iranian?” The teen answered affirmatively.
“Yes, but he didn’t ask me to do anything dangerous to the country or the citizens. I just wanted money. After the graffiti mission and photographing the mall in Herzliya, he told me that he was connected to Iran. I made a mistake, I regret it”, he said.
The indictment was filed Sunday morning in Haifa District Court against two minors, ages 14 and 16, from Kiryat Motzkin. Prosecutors allege that the teenagers performed a series of assignments for a foreign operative working on behalf of Iran.
According to the charges, one assignment involved spraying graffiti beneath a bridge on Hashmonaim Street in Kiryat Motzkin. The messages painted by the teenagers included: “Extremism has given us endless wars”, “Our future is not in the hands of a dictator” and “We will not allow war to stain our lives”.
The primary defendant allegedly received approximately $250 for spraying and documenting the graffiti. He then gave his friend 150 shekels from the payment. Authorities say the main defendant received approximately 3,500 shekels in total from the operative.
The Iranian operative subsequently instructed the teenager to photograph a shopping mall, particular roads and a government building in the Tel Aviv area. He was also asked to document the number of exits at the mall and the number of security guards stationed there.
The second teenager refused to participate in that assignment, telling his friend that he suspected they were dealing with an Iranian agent. The primary defendant nevertheless proceeded with the task, sending the requested photographs and information to the operative and receiving approximately 600 shekels in return.
As part of one assignment, the teenager photographed the Seven Stars Mall in Herzliya. He later deleted the videos he had sent because he feared the material could be used by the operative to carry out a terrorist attack, but he did not end contact with him.
At a later point, the teenager directly asked the operative whether he was Iranian and was told that he was “connected to Iran.” The teen also sent the operative photographs of his passport and his face to verify his identity, receiving approximately $100 in exchange.
The operative later transferred money to the teenager to purchase a new cellphone that was supposed to be used to establish a channel for recruiting additional people to carry out assignments. The teenager did not ultimately purchase the device. However, in a voice message to his friend, he asked him to recruit “as many children as possible” to the Telegram channel and explained that he was looking for “children who don’t care about getting caught” to undertake “high-risk” assignments.
{Matzav.com}