Suspected Iranian spy with Belgian passport held in Tel Aviv

Israeli police and Shin Bet officers detained Iranian-born Ali Mansouri, aka Alex Mans, on Sept. 11 at Ben Gurion airport in possession of photographs of the US embassy in Tel Aviv.

Under interrogation, he described how he was enlisted and run by the Al Qods clandestine brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards for special operations against American and Israeli targets. Ali Mansour entered Israel on his Belgian passport in the guise of a businessman. He gained dual citizenship by marrying a Belgian woman who he divorced and married an Iranian wife. Mansouri admitted he was under orders to set up straw companies as a base for Iranian undercover activities. His handlers promised him a fee $1 million. This news item was released Sunday by the Shin Bet as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was on his way to the United States for a meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House and an address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

DEBKAfile:  At least three Americans are detained or have gone missing in Iran: Saeed Abedini, a US cleric and Amir Hekmati – both of whom were arrested during family visits to Iran – and the Jewish Robert Levinson, a former FBI officer, who was last seen on Kish Island in 2007 and not heard of since.