A Pakistani national who entered from a different country was assigned by the Islamic Republic to carry out the assassination, revealed the Georgian Intelligence Service (GIS).
By Erin Viner
According to a GIS statement, the contracted potential assassin had been supplied with information in order to stalk a specific Israeli citizen.
The Pakistani was arrested by authorities in the Eurasian nation upon discovery of the plot, in addition to a co-conspirator of another suspect said to be a dual-citizen of both Georgia and Iran.
Several other Georgian-Iranians are believed to have smuggled ammunition and necessary equipment into the country to be used in the assassination, said the GIS.
Weapons were reportedly confiscated from several locations in the capital of Tbilisi.
A manhunt is underway for other criminals suspected of involvement in the planned killing of the Israeli.
Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) Counter-Terrorism Bureau has previously warned of Iranian efforts to attack Israeli targets around the world”
Jerusalem’s security establishment cautioned citizens last May to avoid travel to Turkey, which was then been classified as a “high-risk country” due to “tangible threat to Israelis” by Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The statement also stressed that there is “a higher threat level in additional countries bordering Iran,” and that “therefore, Israeli citizens should be alert and take care to show all due caution regarding travel to any of these countries.”
On 13 February 2012, Israeli embassy personnel in Tbilisi were targeted in a terrorist bombing, but the explosive device was safely neutralized by Georgian forces after being alerted by an Israeli official.
In possibly related developments, an oil tanker owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer was hit by an armed drone in an overnight attack off the coast of Oman. A Mideast-based defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press , identified the ship as the Liberian-flagged “Pacific Zircon” operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping.
Local security officials have reportedly stressed that the “Pacific Zircon” is not a state-owned ship, although it may be possible that Iran is behind the attack in an attempt to intimidate Israel. The two archenemies have been engaged in a “shadow war” over the past several years, including several maritime incidents.