The attempted assassination of Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi and other Israeli businessmen in Cyprus was an Iranian plot to avenge the Israeli elimination of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh last year, Israeli media reports said on Monday night.

The report said that it is unclear whether the businessmen were targeted because they were believed to have ties with Israel’s security operations or simply because they are Israeli. The report added that Iran had also tried to harm Israelis in other locations, including targeting the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, India, and the car of an Israeli diplomat in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Sagi told Channel 13 News that reports that he was warned to leave Cyprus by Cypriot Police are untrue and he left the country for unrelated reasons.

“It sounded frightening but it was far from reality,” Sagi said, referring to the report that he was warned to leave the country in the nick of time before being attacked by a hitman.

“I was not contacted and told to leave Cyprus,” he said. “I was never a target. It was a security incident. I’m continuing my business in Cyprus as usual.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)