Israel detained a citizen suspected by the United States of illegally selling military hardware to Iran on Monday, and a Jerusalem judge has initially ordered him held for two days, according to court papers, the Associated Press reported.
Eli Cohen, 65, was held at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv before boarding a flight for London, according to the AP. Court papers said the U.S. government asked he be held and eventually extradited to the U.S. and that an indictment had been filed against him at a federal court in Connecticut.
U.S. authorities have charged Cohen on a number of counts and he is alleged to have illegally sold military spare parts to Iran between 2002-2004 and in 2012 and 2013, the AP reported. Cohen is wanted on suspicion of illegally selling military spare parts to Iran, as well as other offenses including exporting equipment from the U.S. without a permit.
A state prosecutor told Jerusalem Magistrates Court that the United States had issued an arrest warrant for him and would soon deliver an extradition request, the AP reported.
The Jerusalem court will rule on Wednesday whether to extend Cohen's detainment, the AP reported.
Israel and Western powers suspect Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability and have for decades imposed an embargo on arms sales to the Islamic Republic, though Iran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, according to the AP.
Cohen's attorneys, Boaz Ben Zur and Walid Kabub, said the charges against their client were baseless, the AP reported.
"We are certain that when the issues are examined in detail by the courts, it will be decided that there was no impediment in the actions of Mr. Eli Cohen and that there is no basis for his detention or his extradition," they said in a statement, according to the AP.
