Tajikistan distances itself from man held in Israel over Iran espionage

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (MNTV) — Tajikistan’s interior minister said a man arrested in Israel on suspicion of spying for Iran is a native of Tajikistan but is no longer a Tajik citizen.

Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda told a news conference on July 21 that the suspect had renounced his Tajik citizenship and obtained a Russian passport. He did not provide further details.

The minister’s statement could not be independently verified. Tajikistan and Russia have a dual citizenship agreement that allows individuals to hold citizenship of both countries simultaneously.

Earlier, the Tajik Foreign Ministry said it had contacted Israeli authorities through diplomatic channels to verify the identity and citizenship of the suspect.

“We are currently awaiting an official response from the Israeli side. We have not yet received any official information regarding the detention of the citizen,” the ministry’s press office said in a written response to a request from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which was received late last week.

Israeli police and security authorities announced on July 2 that they had arrested a man described as a Tajik and Russian citizen on allegations of spying for Iran.

Israeli authorities identified the suspect as ‘Behruz Sobirjon’ at the time of his arrest and later referred to him in the indictment as ‘Behruz Sharif Dodobaev’, 33.

Israeli prosecutors said on July 6 that, according to preliminary findings, the suspect gathered information on missile impact sites, the Haifa coastline and an Elbit Systems military facility and transmitted it to Iranian intelligence in exchange for cryptocurrency.

Israeli authorities have not publicly commented further on the detainee’s citizenship status.