Apple TV+ Buys 'Fauda' Creator's New Israeli Spy Thriller 'Tehran'

The show revolves around a Mossad agent who enters Iran undercover in an attempt to sabotage the country’s nuclear facilities and falls in love with an Iranian man

Itay Stern

Jun 17, 2020

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Niv Sultan in the series 'Tehran' Credit: Kan public broadcaster

Itay Stern

Jun 17, 2020

Apple has bought the distribution rights for the Israeli spy thriller “Tehran,” which will air in Israel starting next week.

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The series, which will be broadcast on Kan public television, was created by Moshe Zonder – a scriptwriter for the hit series “Fauda” – along with Omri Shenhar, Dana Eden and Maor Cohen.

The show tells the story of a Mossad agent (portrayed by actress Niv Sultan) who goes undercover in Iran to sabotage the country’s nuclear facilities, and unexpectedly falls in love with a young Iranian man.

Credit: Kan public broadcaster

“Tehran” will be broadcast via Apple’s TV+ streaming service. The deal was made between Canadian content distributor Cineflix Rights and the Israeli companies Donna and Shula Productions and Paper Plane Productions.

The spy drama will join a number of Israeli shows that went international in recent years. “Fauda” was purchased by Neftlix, exploding onto screens. Meanwhile, Keren Margalit’s “Yellow Peppers” ‒ which tells the story of a family of farmers on an isolated moshav coming to terms with the realization that their son has autism ‒ gained much praise when it was broadcast on the BBC, and also aired in the United States.

The pilot for the American remake of the Israeli series “On the Spectrum” has also been approved, and its first episode will soon be aired on Amazon Prime.

Dana Eden and Shula Spiegel, the producers of “Tehran,” said in a joint statement that “This is a happy ending to a crazy Hollywood journey that started five years ago. We believed in the show all along and we got the biggest vote of confidence one could ask for.”

Kan CEO Eldad Koblenz added: “This is an unprecedented achievement for a young broadcasting corporation that started its operation only three years ago.”