Shafaq News/ Iran's Nour News website, run by the government, refuted the Israeli claim of thwarting an attack in Cyprus, stating it is a cover-up for Israel's internal crisis.

On Thursday, Israel's Mossad revealed an operation in Iran leading to the arrest of a suspected Iranian agent involved in plotting attacks against Israeli businessmen in Cyprus.

Nour News responded, "The Zionist regime's report on a failed operation a year ago in Iran, where all its agents were arrested, is an attempt to distract from its deteriorating internal conditions."

Last July, Iranian police announced the arrest of a Mossad spy network, which they described as planning armed and sabotage operations, without revealing the nationality of its members.

Mossad claimed to have arrested the terrorist cell's mastermind, Youssef Shahbazi Abbas Alilo, inside Iranian territory, which led to the cell's disclosure and involvement in the Cyprus operation.

Cyprus security forces previously thwarted the attack based on information from Israel and the United States, seizing explosives. The operation's target was allegedly Israeli individuals in the city of Limassol.

In October 2021, Cypriot police arrested six men from Azerbaijan and Pakistan suspected of being in contact with Iran.