Israeli authorities arrested a Russian citizen working in Israel on suspicion of carrying out espionage tasks for Iranian intelligence, including photographing ships and infrastructure at Israeli ports, Israeli media reported on Friday.
The Shin Bet internal security service and the Defense Ministry’s security directorate detained the suspect, Vitaly Zvyagintsev, 30, in early December following an undercover investigation, according to a joint statement cited by Ynet.
Zvyagintsev, a foreign worker living in Israel, was in contact with an Iranian intelligence handler who presented himself as a Russian named Roman and directed him to carry out surveillance missions across the country from October, Ynet reported.
He allegedly sent photographs of sensitive infrastructure and vessels at several Israeli ports and received payment in cryptocurrency, the report said.
Israeli security officials said Zvyagintsev understood the requests were linked to efforts to harm Israel but continued for financial reasons.
“This is a serious case that reflects the continued efforts by Iranian intelligence bodies to recruit Israeli citizens and foreign nationals for espionage and terror-related missions,” the security agencies said in the statement cited by Ynet.
Prosecutors filed an indictment on Friday at the Central District Court, charging Zvyagintsev with serious national security offenses, Israeli officials said.
The arrest comes amid a series of recent cases in which Israeli authorities have accused individuals of passing information to Iran, often in exchange for digital payments, Israeli media said.
Israeli security agencies say Iran has stepped up recruitment efforts through social media, targeting both Israeli citizens and foreign residents, as tensions between the two longtime adversaries remain high.
Speaking on Thursday during a visit to South Khorasan province, Pezeshkian said that although Iran had launched missiles during the fighting, Israel’s arsenal proved superior in both quantity and capability.
“It is true that we had missiles, but their missiles were more numerous, more powerful, more precise and easier to deploy,” Pezeshkian said.
He added that it was the people who ultimately frustrated Israel, without elaborating.
Pezeshkian rejected calls for Iran to curb its missile program, framing it as essential to national defense.
“They tell us not to have missiles, while they arm Israel to the teeth so it can come here whenever it wants, raze everything and leave,” he said. “I will not accept that.”
US officials have said any talks with Tehran would hinge on sweeping conditions that include Iran ending uranium enrichment and dismantling key parts of its nuclear program, curbing or accepting limits on its missile program, and rolling back support for regional proxy forces.
The missile issue is politically charged in Tehran after the June conflict, in which Israel relied heavily on layered air and missile defenses – alongside US support – to blunt waves of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, while still suffering some strikes that penetrated defenses.
The report said an expansion of relations in North Africa would strengthen Tehran at a time when it has been weakened by losses to its leadership and regional allies, adding that closer ties would reinforce “the Iranian regime and its so-called Axis of Resistance, now looking for avenues to rebuild its regional standing and power.”
It said Tunisia’s leadership also sees political benefit in closer alignment with Iran, noting that deepening relations would serve President Kais Saied’s agenda by allowing him to “retain legitimacy while continuing his wide-scale crackdown on Tunisia’s institutions,” while reinforcing his anti-West posture.
The analysis said Tunisia could also offer strategic value for Iran beyond economic ties, warning that Tunis “may represent a safe haven for Iran-supported Hamas operatives” if pressure increases on other countries hosting the group’s leadership.
In September, Israeli broadcaster i24 reported that the US and Israel were holding discussions, with indirect involvement from Iran and other states, over a possible plan to relocate senior Hamas leaders from Gaza to Tunisia, citing security sources, though the talks and their scope have not been independently confirmed.
The report said Iran operates “a sophisticated, law-evading mechanism to support its aviation industry,” relying on shell and front companies in countries with limited transparency, including parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, to acquire aircraft and components and transfer them rapidly to avoid detection.
Aircraft are moved through layered ownership structures and “burst activity” transfers before filing flight plans that pass near Iran, allowing planes to enter Iranian airspace and make “fabricated critical malfunction” emergency landings, after which they are absorbed into Iranian fleets, the report said.
It said airlines such as Mahan Air and Qeshm Fars Air function as logistical arms of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, operating under the Quds Force to move weapons, equipment and funds to regional proxy groups, adding that the sector has shifted “from a civilian transportation tool to a core component of the regime’s economic and security strategy.”
The report said sanctions have severely degraded Iran’s civil aviation, with about 60% of passenger aircraft grounded and the average fleet age at around 28 years, forcing airlines to cannibalize planes for spare parts and rely on smuggling networks to remain operational.
It added that the aviation sector illustrates “a sophisticated integration of state, market, and underground networks that operate in regulatory gray zones and disrupt efforts to globally enforce the sanctions,” even after the UN Security Council reimposed sanctions under the snapback mechanism and the US maintained broad restrictions under laws such as IFCA, ISA and CAATSA.
