Israel questions Iranian blogger after giving her asylum
Iranian blogger Amin, admitted on humanitarian grounds to Israel by Interior Minister Deri in August, was questioned by Shin Bet on contact she'd allegedly maintained with Iranian; Shin Bet says person was not relative, inside Iran; Amin was questioned for 8 days, then freed.
An Iranian blogger granted asylum in Israel has been questioned by Shin Bet on suspicion of illegal communication with Iran, an Israeli official said on Friday.
Iranian Neda Amin landed in Israel this past August after being permitted to do so by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri. Shin Bet confirmed she was questioned and then released.
Israel admitted Amin, 33, who was previously based in Turkey, on humanitarian grounds in August, saying that she faced forced repatriation to Iran and would be at risk given her writings for an Israeli news site.
Interior Minister Deri acquiesced to overtures from the Jerusalem Press Association and the national Union of Journalists in Israel to permit Amin to enter the country.
Israeli law bars contact with the military or similar state agencies of its enemy Iran. As home to thousands of Iranian Jewish immigrants, Israel has in the past allowed citizens to visit family in Iran. But it outlawed these trips a decade ago over Shin Bet concerns that Tehran could recruit them as spies.
A Shin Bet statement said that, after moving to Israel, Amin communicated with "Iranian representatives" and was questioned about this by the security service, whose responsibilities include counter-espionage.
Asked by Reuters for clarification, an Israeli security official said only that the people with whom Amin was accused of communicating were not her relatives, and were inside Iran.
Amin later told Reuters she had been questioned for eight days over her contacts with a person she believed was an Israeli intelligence agent, but who her Shin Bet interrogators told her was in fact an Iranian government operative.
"They told me I am innocent as I have been in touch with an impostor, without knowing it," she said. "I have spoken to this man, but I have done nothing against Israel's security."
Tehran-born Amin claimed in the past her father was Jewish and her mother a Muslim. "I consider myself Jewish," the Iranian blogger said.
In a Ben Gurion Airport press conference held after touching down in the country, Amin added, "I'm overjoyed and feel as though Israel is my own country. I'm safe now. I was in immense danger and my life was beset by difficulties and persecution, but in the end the State of Israel gave me a chance."
The Shin Bet commented on her case, saying, "Amin stayed in Turkey over the past few years. In light of her claim she was being threatened with deportation to Iran, and following her request to come to Israel citing the danger her life will be in should that occur, her admittance to Israel was irregularly approved on humanitarian grounds by the Interior Ministry."
"Amin entered Israel August 10. Several months later and in light of her contact with Iranian figures, she was questioned by Shin Bet. She was later released," the security service's comment concluded.
Yoav Zitun contributed to this report.
