LONDON: Iranian intelligence services sent flowers to the families of Hamas hostages in a bid to lure them into spying on Israeli officials, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.
The plot also involved social media accounts on TikTok, Instagram and Telegram set up by Iranian spies to build relationships with hostages’ families, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet said.
Through the accounts, which arranged flower deliveries, Israelis were asked to “photograph the residences of Israeli defense officials and other officials who appear frequently in the media and speak out against Iran publicly.”
As well as posing as concerned citizens, Iranian spies also branded themselves as far-right Israeli activists in order to gather information.
The strategy is the latest in a series of espionage activities launched by Iran against Israel, and vice versa, as the two countries engage in what has been dubbed a “shadow war.”
Last month, Shin Bet said it had foiled attempts by Iranian spies to pose as local Israelis for espionage purposes.
The spies had contacted Israeli citizens, purporting to be potential business partners, including estate agents and dating service providers.
The citizens who had continued the relationship were then ordered to carry out assignments, which were “seen as apparently not relating to security aspects,” but still provided some value to Iran’s intelligence network. Among the tasks were orders to photograph and document the addresses of people of interest.
But an assassination attempt was also launched as a result of the intelligence, alarming Israel’s spy community.
In 2021, an espionage case rocked Israel when a cleaner employed at the home of Gen. Benny Gantz took photos of his office and forwarded the images to Iran.
His personal belongings, including a PC, phone tablet and office shredder, were also photographed.
The cleaner was handed a three-year prison sentence in late 2022, but told prosecutors he was unaware that his crimes were conducted on behalf of Tehran.
