Israel arrests two citizens accused of spying for Iran

Israel said Monday that it had arrested two Israelis suspected of spying for Iran, including one accused of handing the country classified information obtained during his military service.

It marks the latest in a series of detentions in Israel of people charged with espionage on its arch-foe Iran's behalf since the summer.

Israel's internal security service, Shin Bet, and the police reported the arrests of Yuri Eliaspov and Georgi Andreev, both from the north of the country.

Israeli media reported that both were reservists in the Israeli military, with Eliaspov suspected of bringing Andreev under Tehran's wing.

Eliaspov is accused of having "passed on to his processing officer secret information obtained during his military service in the air defence forces", a joint Shin Bet and police statement said.

Both were paid for their work and were fully aware they were working against Israel, the joint statement added.

Israel's security rests in large part on its sophisticated air defence system, dubbed the "Iron Dome", which protects it from a large portion of the rockets and projectiles fired by Iran and its allies.

Those allies include the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel sparked the bloody war in Gaza, and neighbouring Lebanon's Islamist militia Hezbollah.

In April and October Iran launched two unprecedented direct air assaults on Israel, firing several hundred missiles and drones at the country.

Most of the projectiles were intercepted.

Iran said the April attack was retaliation for an Israeli air strike on Tehran's embassy in Damascus that killed 16 people.

It also claimed the October firings were revenge for the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, killed in late July in Tehran, and of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in September.

Israel accepted responsibility for killing Haniyeh months after the event.