The Israeli government has indicted a 14-year-old boy on charges of spying for Iran amid the ongoing war in the Gulf that nears its fourth week.
Prosecutors at the State Attorney's Office said on Wednesday that the teenager had been charged with espionage after allegedly carrying out intelligence missions on Iran’s behalf, including filming the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
While they did not specify an exact timeline of his offences, the prosecutors noted that the teenager's alleged espionage activities began after he made contact with an Iranian agent via Telegram in April last year, earning over $1,170 in cryptocurrency payments so far.
The teenager's alleged activities took place during his vacations, as he had reportedly told his Iranian contact that he would not be able to carry out his tasks during the school year, as per a Times of Israel report.
'We are committed to the covenant,' reads one of many graffiti messages that he allegedly sprayed throughout Tel Aviv.
'We will take revenge in turn! Ruhollah’s children,' reads yet another message he was asked to put at Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar's home.
The defendant also took videos near the Ichilov Hospital and in parts of Ramat Gan, where an Iranian missile strike earlier killed an elderly couple.
He also captured the location of the Kirya military complex in a video depicting Tel Aviv’s skyline and even tried to rent an apartment near the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but failed to do so.
The Tel Aviv Juvenile Court on Wednesday also indicted the teenager on a number of charges, including keeping contact with a foreign agent and passing intelligence to the enemy, among others.
