An Israeli man was convicted on Monday of espionage on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Meanwhile, it was reported that Iran-backed Hizbullah operatives helped capture a Lebanese man accused of spying for Israel. 
Intelligence agencies warned that Iran was attempting to recruit Israelis of Iranian extraction.
The Tel Aviv District Court approved a plea bargain reached between the Iranian-born Israeli spy, whose name remains censored at this time, and the state prosecutor's office. Details of the sentence have yet to be released and the trial itself was held behind closed doors, at the request of the state.
The 55-year-old man was arrested and charged in May 2008 with contacting and aiding Iranian intelligence, including passing along details of people he claimed worked for Israeli defense apparatuses. At the time of his arrest, police sources said the man admitted that he visited the Iranian consulate in Istanbul regularly, where he passed information to representatives of the Islamic Republic in 2006.
The convicted Iranian agent currently lives abroad, but he was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport on May 8, when he arrived here allegedly for a family visit.
Many Israelis of Iranian birth pass through the Iranian embassy in Istanbul in order to obtain travel documents that allow them to visit family members who remain in the Islamic Republic. Israel's intelligence agencies have warned that Iran is attempting to recruit Israelis of Iranian extraction as spies against the Jewish State. There are still approximately 25,000 Jews living in Iran, nearly all of whom have relatives abroad.
Lebanese Man Arrested for Spying for Israel
According to a Monday morning report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Ahbar, the Lebanese army and Hizbullah collaborated to capture a man accused of collaborating with Israel. The man is a resident of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, where Hizbullah has established a virtual mini-state despite the presence of United Nations troops.
The arrested individual, named Marwan in the media reports, is accused of collecting intelligence on the movements and activities of Hizbullah cells. Al-Ahbar reported that Marwan's capture, ten days ago, was the result of intensive counter-espionage efforts that lasted several months.
Marwan allegedly told his Lebanese army interrogators that Israel recruited him in 1990 in France, where he lived at the time. He also claimed to have visited Israel four times for training, according to the Lebanese newspaper.