Iranians Carrying Forged Israeli Passports Detained in Buenos Aires

Police in Buenos Aires arrested two Iranians with phony Israeli passports and suspect them of terrorist activities, The Times of Israel reported.

A man and a woman — Sajjad Naserani, 27, and Mahsoreh Sabzali, 30 — were detained last week after they entered Argentina on the forged documents.

The passports identified them as Netanel and Rivka Toledano, but authorities ascertained that the ID numbers actually belonged to a French-Israeli couple by the name of David and Brigitte Assouline, according to local media.

Spelling mistakes in Hebrew, including the word “Israel,” gave away that the passports were not genuine.

Branches of Interpol in Argentina, Spain and Israel reportedly cooperated in the arrest.

Security officials said they had raised the alert level because of the proximity to the anniversary of the March 17, 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.

“This of course raises the level of alertness, and so I understand it is essential to maximize all security and prevention measures,” prosecuting judge Luis Rodriguez said, according to the news site Clarin.

Iran and its Hezbollah proxy have been widely blamed for both the embassy bombing, which killed 29 people, and an attack on the AMIA Jewish center two years later that left 85 dead.

There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.