State prosecutors filed an indictment at the Tel Aviv District Court on Monday against Bekhruz Shakhriv Dodobaev, 33, alleging that he gathered and relayed information on missile-impact sites, Haifa Port, and an Elbit Systems facility to Iranian intelligence contacts in exchange for cryptocurrency payments.
Dodobaev, a Tajik citizen whose temporary Israeli residency permit had expired by May, is charged with contact with a foreign agent, nine counts of communicating information that could benefit an enemy, and four counts of communicating information to an enemy with intent to harm state security.
Dodobaev was initially approached through Telegram while looking for temporary work
According to the indictment, Dodobaev was initially approached through Telegram while looking for temporary work in late 2025 or early 2026. A profile using the name “Anna” first offered to pay him to photograph cars, prosecutors said, before telling him that it was connected to an Iranian organization.
The indictment alleges that from February through June, Dodobaev was directed by three handlers using the names Anna, Uri, and Polina, whom prosecutors identify as Iranian foreign agents. He was allegedly paid through digital wallets for assignments that included sending footage, photographs, and coordinates from locations where Iranian missiles had fallen during the war.
Among the alleged assignments, Dodobaev traveled to Haifa Port and filmed the shoreline, vessels, and the port area, including close-up footage of ships, prosecutors said.
In May, according to the indictment, he was sent to the Elbit Systems Cyclone facility in Ahihud under the pretext that he was being asked to document a missile-impact site. He allegedly sent coordinates and video after reporting that he had reached a secured area and seen an Elbit sign.
The prosecution also alleges that Dodobaev helped Iranian handlers attempt to widen their recruitment network in Israel. He allegedly distributed purported job advertisements in migrant neighborhoods in Ashdod and Tel Aviv, containing Telegram contact information supplied by the handlers, with the aim of finding additional people to carry out similar assignments.
Dodobaev briefly told one handler in April that he feared imprisonment
The indictment says that Dodobaev briefly told one handler in April that he feared imprisonment because others had worked with them, and that he wanted to stop. After being told that refusing further assignments would end their contact, he allegedly resumed the activity the following day.
Alongside the indictment, the prosecution asked the court to detain Dodobaev until the end of proceedings. It said its evidence included his statements to investigators, Telegram correspondence, media files recovered from his phones, digital-wallet transfers, transportation data, and records connected to his alleged missions.
The case is the latest in a broader series of Iran-related espionage investigations involving online recruitment and digital payments. In its annual report published earlier this year, the Shin Bet said that 25 Israelis and foreign residents were indicted in 2025 over alleged espionage for Iran, while 120 separate Iranian espionage incidents were thwarted that year.