Iran ‘strongly rejects’ allegations of smuggling explosive drones to Cyprus

The Iranian embassy in Nicosia on Wednesday denied allegations levelled at the Iranian government by the State of Israel that it had aided the smuggling of explosive drones to Cyprus.

It said it “strongly rejects the recent allegations”, which appeared in a joint announcement issued by Mossad, the Israel defence forces, and the Israel securities authority on Monday.

“The embassy considers such claims to be unfounded and politically motivated, reflecting an attempt to deflect attention from the failures of the Israeli regime in achieving its objectives in its recent military actions conducted jointly with the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” it said.

It added that “in the past, officials in Tel Aviv have resorted to various means, including false flag operations, in an effort to undermine Iran’s relations with other countries”, and that despite this, “these attempts have consistently failed to achieve their intended purposes”.

“The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has previously conveyed its concerns to the respected relevant authorities of the Republic of Cyprus regarding the possibility of such scenarios and the risks posed by actions which could adversely affect regional stability,” it said.

It added that it “reaffirms its respect for the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus and its commitment to maintaining constructive and friendly relations with all countries based on mutual respect and international law”.

The Israeli joint announcement had centred on a man named Mehdi Yeka-Dehqan, who it said is an officer in the Iranian Islamic revolutionary guard, and whom it accuses of having “led terror efforts in Azerbaijan”.

Dehqan, it said, has been “known since January” following “the arrest of an operational infrastructure in Turkey”.

It added that Dehqan is the leader of a cell, which “under his guidance … promoted the smuggling of explosive drones from Iran to Turkey and then to Cyprus, as well as intelligence collection on the Incirlik United States air force base in Adana”, in southeastern Turkey.

Additionally, it said, “similar missions targeting western bases have been exposed previously”.

It said that one such mission saw “Azeri nationals … arrested on suspicion of gathering intelligence on Israeli targets [as well as] military bases in Cyprus and Crete”.

A dual Azerbaijani and British citizen was arrested on suspicion of espionage in June last year, with Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar having said at the time that a planned attack on Israeli citizens by Iran’s Islamic revolutionary guard had been averted thanks to cooperation between the authorities of Cyprus and Israel.

“The Islamic revolutionary guard– the terror arm of the Iranian regime – tried to carry out an attack on Israeli citizens in Cyprus. Thanks to the activity of the Cypriot security authorities, in cooperation with Israeli security services, the terror attack was thwarted. Israel thanks Cyprus for its swift and effective actions,” he said.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Business Secretary parliamentary under-secretary of state for the armed forces Luke Pollard also passed comment on the matter.

“On our sovereign base areas in Cyprus, it is essential that we look not only at how we can protect them, but at how we can protect them from the risk of Iranian retaliation, which is why we have enhanced the force protection measures on our bases in Cyprus,” he said.

The arrest came amid a back-and-forth of missile strikes between Israel and Iran, with hostilities having broken out again this year, this time seeing the British Akrotiri air force base be struck by an Iranian-made drone.