Bennett aide accuses Iran of attempting attack on Israelis in Cyprus

October 4, 2021

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel accused Iran on Monday of orchestrating an attempted attack against Israelis in Cyprus after police on the island said an armed individual had been arrested.

“This was a terrorist incident directed by Iran against Israeli businesspeople living in Cyprus,” Matan Sidi, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, Cypriot police chief Stelios Papatheodorou told reporters: “A person has been arrested, in whose possession a pistol and cartridges were found.”

“It is a sensitive case, which is why a remand request was held behind closed doors,” Papatheodorou added.

In his statement, Sidi denied local media reports on Sunday that described the arrest as having thwarted a criminally-motivated assassination attempt against an Israeli magnate.

(Writing by Dan Williams and Michele Kambas; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)

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