Israel claims it has arrested Iranian spy

Israel has arrested a man it claims is an Iranian spy who was trying to set up an espionage infrastructure in Israel.

The man, identified as Ali Mansouri (55), was arrested earlier this month while trying to leave Israel on a flight for Brussels. According to the Israel Security Agency (ISA), the suspect was travelling with a Belgian passport under the alias Alex Mans, after being recruited by the Quds force, the branch of the Iranian revolutionary guards responsible for special operations abroad.

He was allegedly carrying photographs of the US embassy in Tel Aviv as well as other unidentified sites.

The release of details of the affair yesterday was likely timed to coincide with the trip to the US of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is due to deliver a speech to the United Nations general assembly tomorrow focusing on the Iranian nuclear threat.

A member of Mr Netanyahu's delegation said the arrest was proof Iran cannot be trusted, despite the recent phone conversation between President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani. "At a time when Iran is trying to get closer to the US, it sent an agent to try to gather intelligence in order to carry out a terror attack against the American embassy in Israel," the official said. "This is just one further example of Iran's policy of doublespeak and further proof that Iran's words do not match its actions."

According to ISA, this was Mr Mansouri’s third visit to Israel and he was promised $1 million by Iranian intelligence in exchange for his activities. While in Israel he attempted to sell windows and roofing systems to a number of Tel Aviv companies in a bid to build up a network of business contacts in Israel as a front for future Iranian intelligence and terrorist activities.

Israel claims the suspect, who has still not been brought to court, left Iran in 1980 and lived in Turkey before moving to Belgium where he obtained citizenship and changed his name to Alex Mans.

Lawyers representing Mr Mansouri claimed their client was a Belgian businessman who was not linked to Iranian intelligence.