Levon performed the tasks despite having \u201creasonable basis\u201d to assume the accounts acted on behalf of Iranian intelligence, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
Police had on Tuesday already announced<\/a> that a US national arrested for spying for Iran was set to be charged, but the specifics of the case were under a gag order.<\/p>\n Levon is one of dozens of people, mostly Israeli citizens, who have been arrested in Israel in recent months for allegedly cooperating with Iran-linked agents via social media in exchange for money. Agents usually start out assigning Israeli recruits mundane tasks such as vandalism, but the requests often escalate into serious offenses like espionage and intelligence gathering.<\/p>\n \t The indictment against Levon said that while visiting family in the US in November, he used a pseudonymous Telegram account to respond to a wanted ad in a chat group called \u201cYeshivot Telegram.\u201d<\/p>\n About a month later, while Levon was on the plane home, he was contacted by Sina, who offered money for pictures and videos from Israel, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n Levon allegedly took up the offer, sent videos from the plane and after landing to prove his identity and location, and received $30 from Sina via a digital wallet.<\/p>\n Later tasks from Sina included hiding the cigarette box and photographing the bus station, a grocery store and an abandoned building in Jerusalem\u2019s Bukharan neighborhood, according to the indictment<\/p>\n In his final task from Sina, Levon was asked to send a picture of himself and his passport, prosecutors said. Levon performed the task, but, fearing his personal information would be abused, blocked Sina\u2019s account soon afterward, they said.<\/p>\n \t Then, at or near the start of 2026, the Alecsander Telegram account made Levon a similar offer of money in exchange for footage from Jerusalem, which Levon again agreed to, the indictment said.<\/p>\n The tasks allegedly also included sending footage from inside a grocery store, as well as hiding the USB flash drive at the Jerusalem eatery on February 23, five days before the US and Israel launched the war against Iran in a bid to curtail its nuclear program.<\/p>\n The fighting with Iran entered a truce on April 8, and the US and Iran are engaged in peace talks based on a memorandum of understanding reached last month. Israel is not a party to the understanding or the negotiations, and Israeli officials have criticized the document for failing to secure a concrete concession from Iran on the nuclear program.<\/p>\n Charlie Summers contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIllustrative: Prison guards operate in a special wing of the Damon Prison established for Israelis accused of spying for Iran, in the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel, northern Israel, July 1, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/F260605RA09-e1783087253711-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIllustrative: Passengers wait at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station on June 5, 2026. (Rachel Alroey\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
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