Tehran has dismissed the powerful chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence unit, Hossein Taeb, Iranian state TV said on Thursday.
It follows a series of high-profile incidents Iran has blamed on its arch-foe Israel.
Iranian state media gave no reason for the move, but said Mr Taeb would become an adviser to the guards' commander-in-chief Hossein Salami.
Mr Taeb will be replaced by Mohammad Kazemi, previously head of the guards' intelligence protection unit.
Iran, which refuses to recognise Israel, has long accused “the Zionist regime” of sabotaging its nuclear sites and killing scientists and senior commanders inside Iranian borders.
In May, Iran blamed Israel for killing Revolutionary Guard colonel Sayyad Khodaei, the most high-profile assassination inside Iran since the 2020 killing of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, which Tehran also blamed on Israel.
Iran displays drones at secret underground base — in pictures
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Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, left, Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff, and Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi, Army Commander-in-Chief, visit an underground drone base at an undisclosed location in Iran. AFP -
Iranian state media revealed the existence of a drone base, said to be in the Zagros Mountains, in reports on a visit to the facility by Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri, left, Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff. Reuters -
The Iranian Army released photos of a wide variety of drones lined up in long tunnels. AFP -
Iranian Army drones believed to be held at an underground facility in the Zagros Mountains, a range that runs 1,600 kilometres through Iran, Iraq and Turkey. AFP -
An army drone at an underground drone base somewhere in Iran. AFP -
An army drone at an underground drone base somewhere in Iran. Senior officers in the Iranian military say its drone force gives it regional leadership. AFP -
An Iranian military drone is inspected at a secret underground site. Reuters -
Iran's unmanned aircraft programme has come up with dozens of kinds of drones since the middle of the 1980s. AFP -
Reminders of the Iranian Army's revolutionary heritage are seen at an underground facility when drones are stored. AFP -
An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP -
An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP -
An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP -
Iran's missile development has come along in tandem with programmes to developed military drones. AFP -
Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri and Army Commander-in-Chief Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi. AFP -
Photos from an underground Iranian military base show development of several drone platforms. AFP -
A heavy payload for a drone at a secret underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP -
Iran introduced the IAIO Fotros surveillance drone late in 2013. AFP -
Iran's developing missile technology has been used by Tehran's allies around the Middle East. AFP -
An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. Reuters -
An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. AFP -
An army drone at an underground base somewhere in Iran. Reuters
Israel has not denied or accepted responsibility, but Iran's inability to thwart those attacks has exposed security gaps, which suggest the country remains vulnerable.
Mr Taeb, a mid-ranking cleric and member of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's inner circle, was accused by some Israeli media of being behind an alleged Iranian plot to kill or abduct Israelis vacationing in Turkey. Israel raised its Istanbul travel advisory to the highest alert level on June 13.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid thanked Turkey on Thursday for helping to foil the Iranian plot in Istanbul and said the security effort was still under way.
Before becoming the guards' Intelligence chief in 2009, Mr Taeb worked in Mr Khamenei's office.
