Iran sacks head of IRGC's intelligence unit amid alleged plot against Israeli tourists

Iran has dismissed the powerful chief of the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence unit, Hossein Taeb, Iranian state TV reported on June 23, days after Israeli media accused him of being behind an alleged Iranian plot to kill or abduct Israeli tourists in Türkiye.

The station gave no reason for the change, but said Taeb had been appointed as an advisor to the Guards' Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami, Reuters reports.

He will be replaced by Mohammad Kazemi, previously head of the Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Protection unit.

Israel raised its Istanbul travel advisory to the highest alert level on June 13 because of what it said was a threat of Iranian attempts to kill or abduct Israelis vacationing in Turkey.

Before becoming the Guards Intelligence Chief in 2009, Taeb worked at the office of Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.