Israel alleges Cyprus targeted by ‘Iranian covert network’

Israel’s intelligence service Mossad, the IDF, as well as its security agency, Shin Bet, alleged on Monday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) smuggled explosive drones from Iran through Turkey and into Cyprus as part of a “covert global terror network that also targeted military bases on the island”.

According to a joint statement released by the three agencies, the disclosure places Cyprus at the centre of an alleged Iranian intelligence operation that spanned Azerbaijan, Turkey, Greece and multiple European countries, and which Israeli authorities claim was run by a dedicated IRGC unit responsible for attacks against Israeli and Western targets abroad.

Cyprus had already seen tangible signs of the alleged network’s activity, for in last June, an Azerbaijani national travelling on a British passport was charged with espionage and terrorism offences on the island.

Israeli authorities now allege he was arrested following a tip-off from Israeli intelligence, and that he had been gathering intelligence on Israeli targets and military bases in Cyprus under direct orders from handlers in Iran.

According to the Israeli statement, the operative responsible for directing activity in Cyprus and Azerbaijan was Mehdi Yekeh-Dehghan, referred to within the network as “the Doctor.”

His role first came to light in January 2026, following the arrest of an operational cell in Turkey.

Under his direction, the cell was allegedly working to smuggle explosive drones from Iran into Turkey and onward to Cyprus, while simultaneously gathering intelligence on the US air force’s Incirlik base in Adana.

Similar surveillance operations were allegedly conducted against the Souda naval base in Crete, where personnel were ordered to photograph and collect reconnaissance.  

An Azerbaijani national travelling on a Polish passport was arrested in Crete in June 2025 on espionage charges.

The broader network, Israeli authorities alleged, was headed by Rahman Moqadam, who led IRGC Unit 4000, the Special Operations Division within the IRGC’s intelligence organisation.

Unit 4000 is described by Israel as the body “responsible for directing terrorist activity outside Iran”, smuggling weapons into foreign territory and recruiting local cells to gather sensitive intelligence on Israeli political leaders, security officials, military installations, ports and Israeli vessels worldwide.

Moqadam was killed at the start of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began on 28 February.

Two other senior figures in the network, IRGC intelligence chief Majid Khademi and Division 4000 operative Mohsen Suri, were reportedly killed during the operation.

Suri was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an IRGC safehouse, with the strike guided by joint Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence.

Among the alleged targets was also the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which runs through Georgia and Turkey and carries a significant share of Israel’s oil imports, as well as supplying southern European countries including Greece, Italy and France.

The joint Israeli statement alleged that the network’s exposure “repeatedly demonstrates Iran’s clear failure to create plausible deniability,” describing the IRGC’s approach as one that seeks to “conduct terror activity at arm’s length from Tehran in order to avoid diplomatic, legal and economic consequences”.