The State Attorney's Office filed an indictment today (Monday) with the Ba'er District Court, among other things for treason, against Eduard Yusupov, 65, of Netivot, for carrying out a series of espionage operations for an agent acting on behalf of Iran, after he photographed strategic installations in exchange for money.
According to the indictment, during November 2024, after Israel was in the midst of the Iron Swords War, Yusupov renewed contact with an old acquaintance named Tayir, whom he had known before immigrating to Israel from Azerbaijan. During their conversation, Tayir introduced him to another person who identified himself as "Moiz." Yusupov and "Moiz" subsequently maintained direct contact on the WhatsApp application, where "Moiz" identified himself as "Musa.".
Musa claimed that he was interested in opening a business in Israel, but in reality he acted as a foreign agent and assigned Yusupov a series of intelligence-gathering tasks.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
According to the indictment, Yusupov complied with Musa's requests, collecting and documenting sensitive information and details about national infrastructure and various sites across the country, including facilities in Beersheba, IDF bases, military sites in the Negev, the Haifa port, parks, libraries, zoos, commercial and entertainment areas, and more.
Some of the photographs were taken using a dedicated phone and technological aids for photography, and were also recorded while driving near major military bases.
The indictment also states that Yusupov rented an apartment in Haifa for "Musa," overlooking the Haifa Port, where, according to his instructions, he documented, among other things, close-ups of ships, industrial chimneys within the port area, and more.
During his period of activity, Yusupov was careful to maintain secrecy, acted carefully to avoid detection, and received a total of approximately $41,000 for the performance of tasks and living expenses, paid via a digital wallet.
The request for detention until the end of the proceedings, which was filed at the same time, stated in relation to Yusupov's crimes: "The respondent committed security offenses while the State of Israel was waging one of the most difficult wars it had ever known, on many fronts, including Iran. The respondent suspected that Musa was a foreign agent, a factor hostile to the State of Israel, and yet continued to cooperate with him. The respondent's actions were stopped thanks to the actions of the security forces, which led to his arrest.".
The defendant was charged with the offenses of providing information to the enemy with the intent to harm state security, providing information to the enemy that could be of benefit to him, contact with a foreign agent, and revealing a decision to betray.
