Turkmenistan: Likely Israeli Envoy to Ashgabat Vexes Kremlin, Tehran

The man who would be Israel's first permanent ambassador to Turkmenistan, Reuven Dinel, is generating suspicion in Moscow and Tehran. Dinel was expelled from Russia in 1996 for allegedly engaging in espionage.

Russia media outlets have reported that Dinel is the Israeli Foreign Ministry's preferred choice as envoy to Turkmenistan. Dinel previously worked as a diplomat at the Israeli Embassy in Moscow, where he was "responsible for coordinating the work of Israeli intelligence agents with the secret services of Russia and the countries of the [Commonwealth of Independent States]," the Turkmen opposition news website Gundogar reported on July 27.

According to Russian media outlets, Dinel's alleged activities on behalf of Mossad were uncovered when an alleged agent working for Israel, a former Russian officer, identified as Major Dudnik, who had access to space imagery of the Middle East, was arrested in a Moscow metro station in December 1996. Dinel was declared a persona non grata and expelled from Russia shortly after the arrest.

Turkmenistan agreed to host an Israeli embassy in May of this year. The embassy will be Israel's closest diplomatic outpost to Iranian territory. Ashgabat is just 32 kilometers from the Iranian border.