Turkish intelligence and police announced the arrest of six suspects after a coordinated operation across five provinces on January 28 that they say dismantled an espionage network run by Iranian intelligence. The detained include two executives from defence firms, two textile merchants, an Iranian national and a recruiter operating on the Turkey–Iran border; all have been charged with engaging in political or military espionage and are held in Istanbul pending prosecution.
Investigators say the network communicated via an encrypted application codenamed "Pigeon" and allegedly planned to use front companies to move military drones to Cyprus. The suspects are also accused of collecting sensitive military information and conducting reconnaissance of Incirlik Air Base, the NATO-linked facility in southern Turkey that hosts Turkish and U.S. air assets and stores tactical nuclear weapons under NATO arrangements.
The case carries outsized strategic significance because it intersects regional rivalry, NATO security and Turkey’s complex relationship with Iran. Ankara and Tehran have a history of pragmatic cooperation alongside competition in Syria, Iraq and the eastern Mediterranean; an Iranian-run operation focused on a NATO base would raise alarm in Washington and among Turkey’s NATO partners about the integrity of military supply chains and personnel clearances.
Beyond immediate security concerns, the arrests underscore evolving espionage tradecraft: use of encrypted, bespoke communications, exploitation of private-sector supply chains and cross-border recruitment. Turkish authorities are likely to use the case to shore up domestic counterintelligence efforts and to reassure NATO allies, while Iran’s silence so far leaves room for diplomatic manoeuvring and potential retaliation or denial in the days ahead.