🇮🇷 #Iran - 🇮🇱 #Israel: Two teenagers from Kiryat Motzkin, aged 14 and 16, have been indicted after carrying out paid missions for an alleged "Iranian intelligence agent" they contacted through Telegram.
Prosecutors say the minors were paid several hundred shekels in cryptocurrency to film shopping malls in Herzliya and Tel Aviv, gather information on entrances and security guards, spray-paint anti-government graffiti, and attempt to recruit other minors for "high-risk" missions. One teenager also pretended to be a soldier from Israel's Military Intelligence Unit 8200 to obtain additional, more high-risk assignments. The pair face charges including "contact with a foreign agent," "providing intelligence to an enemy" and vandalism.
Similar recruitment methods were documented during the Russo-Ukrainian war, where anonymous handlers have used Telegram to recruit individuals for sabotage, suicide bombings disguised as "delivery jobs" and arson, with some cases involving links to Russian intelligence.
