The plot to assassinate an Israeli businessman living in Istanbul was foiled by Islamic Republic agents, and Turkish security agents arrested eight people in connection with the case.

 The plot to assassinate an Israeli businessman living in Istanbul was foiled by Islamic Republic agents, and Turkish security agents arrested eight people in connection with the case.

The name of the senior security official of the Islamic Republic who commanded the operation from inside the country is "Yasin Taher Mamkandi", 53, and a 44-year-old man named Saleh Mushtaq Bigoz, an Iranian citizen, led the operation in Turkey.

He was detained along with seven other Turkish nationals.

It is said that the assassination of this Israeli businessman was planned in revenge for the murder of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

The report came as the Turkish intelligence service announced yesterday that it had arrested 17 people on charges of collaborating with the Islamic Republic's intelligence service in abducting an Iranian-based opposition figure.

The Turkish intelligence service, MIT, has arrested eight people in connection with an assassination attempt on an Israeli businessman over the past week.

 According to the Sabah newspaper, the Turkish intelligence service announced on Friday (February 13th) that the plot to assassinate Turkish-Israeli businessman Yair Geller, who works in the aviation and defense industries, had been foiled.

According to Turkish media reports, Istanbul police launched an operation to arrest members of the assassination network a few days ago, and finally arrested eight people after a month of investigation and surveillance.

According to the Sabah newspaper, the head of the criminal network is in Iran, and members of the network have been arrested on charges of establishing and membership in a criminal organization.

The Turkish secret service cooperated with the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad) to prevent the assassination and to protect "Yair Geller", and transferred the Turkish-Israeli businessman to a safe place.

According to reports, the assassination attempt was intended to avenge the murder of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a nuclear scientist in the Islamic Republic, who was assassinated on December 28, 1999, near Tehran.