Iran’s Revolutionary Guards plotted to abduct and murder Israeli journalist Babak Yitzchaki, the opposition outlet IranWire reported on Shabbos.

Yitzchaki is the Israeli correspondent for Iran International, another Iranian opposition outlet that has been targeted more than once by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

According to the report, the IRGC’s plan involved luring Yitzchaki and another Iran International journalist to a city in Turkey near the Iranian border and abducting them to Tehran, where they would be murdered.

The plan was revealed by Mohammad Hashemzadeh, a former Iranian political prisoner currently detained in Armenia. While in Iran, Revolutionary Guard terrorists tried to convince Hashemzadeh and his cellmate, who was a friend of Yitzchaki, to carry out the abduction. The plan failed because the two refused to cooperate.

Yitzchaki told Ynet: “This is not the first time the Islamic regime in Iran has tried to harm Iran International journalists. We are the free, true and independent voice of news in Iran and the world. A few months ago, regime operatives stabbed my colleague Pouria Zarati in London, and last year, authorities uncovered a plan to attack our channel’s building and harm our journalists. As an Israeli journalist, I trust my country’s intelligence and security services. I will continue my work with the channel.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)