March 15, 2024
Peruvian police have arrested an Iranian identified as a Qods Force member and a Peruvian national for allegedly planning to attack an Israeli in the Andean nation. Peru’s chief of police, Oscar Arriola, told a press conference March 8 that the arrests were made after an investigation in coordination with international intelligence agencies, which provided “sensitive” information about an Iranian citizen who arrived in Peru March 3.
“We had to act quickly because today [the Iranian] was set to return to Iran after forming a terrorist cell to wipe out an Israeli national,” said. Both the Iranian, whom Arriola identified as 56-year-old Majid Azizi, and the Peruvian were arrested March 7, he said. Azizi also holds Peruvian nationality by marriage, Arriola said, and had been living in Peru since 1997.
Police are still looking for a third Peruvian they think was to be the actual killer, he said. Arriola said that authorities had identified the Israeli who would have been targeted in the attack, though they were choosing not to release the person’s name for security reasons.
Iran has been targeting Israelis, including ordinary citizens and tourists, for several years in retaliation for Israel’s successful murders of Iranian nuclear scientists. According to Peru’s Interior Ministry, Azizi is a member of the Qods Force, the extraterritorial branch of the Pasdaran. This is the first time Peruvian authorities have announced the arrest of an alleged member of that group. Iranian authorities did not comment, and Iranian state media had not acknowledged the arrest even two days after it was announced.
Arriola said Azizi was captured after withdrawing money from an ATM and will remain in prison for an initial 15 days under terrorism charges. The Iranian government and its proxies have been accused of plotting attacks in South America several times in the past, including in Peru.
In 2014, Peruvian authorities arrested a Lebanese man, Muhammad Ghaleb Hamdar, accusing him of belonging to Hezbollah and possibly plotting a bomb attack. Hamdar denied any connection to the group and said his confession was coerced, Reuters reported at the time.
