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An Israeli citizen, 73-year-old Moti Maman, has been indicted for allegedly being recruited by Iran to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, or the head of the Shin bet Ronen Bar- Israel’s domestic intelligence service, according to the police and Shin Bet. The suspect was named by Israeli Army Radio GLZ.
Mr Maman, from the southern city of Ashkelon, was arrested in August but indicted on Thursday. He was allegedly tasked with killing one of the senior Israeli officials, the investigation said. The businessman, who worked extensively in Turkey, was smuggled into Iran twice and received payment for meeting Iranian security officials, the police and Shin Bet said.
In April, the suspect, who is Jewish, agreed to visit a businessman called Eddie in Iran, with the help of Turkish citizens Andre Farouk and Jonaid Aslan. He then went to Samandag in Hatay province in Turkey where “he met representatives sent by Eddie and communicated with him via phone after there was difficulty for Eddie to leave Iran,” the police and Shin Bet said.
“In May 2024, he departed for Turkey and there he met Andre, Jonaid and two other representatives of Eddie. After it was again difficult for Eddie to leave Iran, the Israeli citizen was smuggled into Iran through a land border near Van, Turkey. There, he met Eddie and another individual named Hajjah, presented as an Iranian security operative,” the police and Shin Bet added.
During meetings, Mr Maman was offered “to carry out various security missions within Israel for the Iranian regime, including: transferring money or a gun at predetermined points, photographing various crowded places in the country and sending them to Iranian elements, threatening other Israeli citizens activated in the country by the Iranian regime who did not complete requested tasks”.
In August, the accused entered Iran for a second time, this time smuggled over the border in a lorry. He met other Iranian “intelligence agents” who asked him “to carry out terrorist activities for Iran on Israeli soil, including promoting assassination attacks on Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, or on Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar”. The Israeli demanded one million USD ahead of any operations, which was denied.
At a meeting with Iranian officials the day after, they explored the “possibility of him depositing money at points throughout Israel for others, locating Russian and American elements for eliminating opponents of the Iranian regime in Europe and the US, and recruiting a Mossad agent”.
“Before leaving Iranian soil, he received 5,000 euros from Eddie and an Iranian intelligence representative for participating in meetings,” the police and Shin Bet said.
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Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
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“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
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