A senior security official commented on the Turkish media coverage of the arrest of the Iranian terrorist cell, saying that "we are in continuous contact with the Turks. We have no surprises with them. The Turks deserve a lot of credit."

The senior official said the threat to Israelis in Istanbul had not been completely removed as more Iranian terrorist squads were still operating on the ground.

"We are on the right path and it may be the beginning of the end but the incident is not over and unfinished. We have not removed the whole threat. There is still the presence of Iranian terrorists in Turkey. There is more than one squad to deal with," the source said.