On the orders of Iranian agents: he set fire to a vehicle in Haifa, sprayed graffiti and was asked to commit a murder ► Watch

(haipo) - The Shin Bet and Israel Police arrested an Israeli citizen living in the north who performed tasks for Iran in exchange for thousands of dollars - a serious indictment was filed against him.

As part of a combined operation of the General Security Service and the Northern Division of the Israel Police, Artyom Zolotrev (2024), an Israeli citizen and resident of Nof HaGalil, was arrested last November (33) on suspicion of committing security offenses related to contact with intelligence agents of the Iranian regime and carrying out security missions in Israel at their direction, for monetary consideration.

Dozens of graffiti, setting cars on fire

Artyom was arrested after carrying out a large number of graffiti sprays in the Nof HaGalil area, Haifa and Migdal Ha'Emek, as well as setting fire to a car in Haifa.

The investigation of the Shin Bet and the Northern District Attorney's Office revealed that during the month of October 2024 there was an online connection between Artyom and a figure calling himself "Eliad" and it suggested that Artyom carry out graffiti spraying missions against the government in order to to change the civil situation in the country.

Artyom carried out dozens of graffiti sprays in the Nof HaGalil, Haifa and Migdal Ha'Emek area, while documenting his activities with photographs and videos and sent them to "Eliad". After transferring the pictures to "Eliad", Artyom erased the graffiti, as he did not want people to see the things he had written. In exchange for this, Artyom received $2,800 in cryptocurrencies.

The investigation also revealed that after refusing to carry out other tasks, such as photographing residential buildings, photographing an electrical transformer and burning a car, Artyom saw postings on Tiktok about the arrest of Moti Meman, an Israeli citizen who twice traveled to Iran and met with Iranian intelligence officials, as well as postings about the arrest of Valdislav Victorson and Anna Bernstein who were in contact with Iranian agents and performed similar tasks for them. Then Artyom realized that "Eliad" with whom he was in contact and for whom he performed the tasks, is an Iranian agent.

After realizing that "Eliad" was an Iranian agent, "Eliad" offered Artyom to kill a man for $125,000 and promised him that they would then take care of smuggling him to Russia or Iran. He was also asked to purchase a gun in order to transfer it to another person, but Artyom refused these two offers. However, he agreed to the request of his Iranian operator to set fire to a car in Haifa in exchange for $2,000.

Another operator and another ignition

Later, "Eliad" directed Artyom to another operator named "Boaz Mar", and as part of the relationship with him, Artyom carried out additional tasks, which included spraying graffiti in Haifa and Afula: "Children of Rohallah" (Rohallah Khomeini - the former supreme leader of Iran), and burning another vehicle in Haifa while recording the ignition and sending the video to its operator. In exchange for the activity, Artyom received thousands of dollars from the operators using cryptocurrencies.

This morning (Monday 9/12/24) a serious indictment was filed against him to the court, for the offenses of contact with a foreign agent, arson and defacement of real estate.