Greek authorities said police were searching parts of Athens and other areas of Greece on Wednesday following the arrest of two suspects accused of planning an attack at a Jewish center in a busy downtown area of the Greek capital. The two men, described as being of Pakistani origin but not further identified, were charged Tuesday with terrorism offenses, while a third man believed to be in Iran was charged in absentia. 

“Thank God we are safe,” Rabbi Mendel Hendel, who runs the Chabad Jewish center, said in a statement to the Associated Press that was also signed by his wife, Nechama. “We’re grateful that this act of terrorism was prevented,” he added, thanking the Greek authorities.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, helped Greece prevent a terrorist attack planned against at least one Jewish site in Athens. Greek authorities had said earlier that the two men arrested, who were not named, were allegedly planning an attack on a Jewish restaurant in central Athens. That attack was considered to be imminent and to be intended to cause extensive loss of life.

A statement from Mr. Netanyahu’s office read in part, “After the start of the investigation of the suspects in Greece, the Mossad rendered intelligence assistance in unraveling the infrastructure, its work methods and the link to Iran.”

“The investigation revealed that the infrastructure that operated in Greece is part of an extensive Iranian network run from Iran and spanning many countries,” the statement continued. 

Greek authorities have not identified the foreign intelligence agency that provided assistance in the investigation, but said they were investigating the possibility that the suspects were also planning other attacks in Greece.

It now appears that multiple attacks on Jewish sites in Athens were in the active planning stages. The arrests were announced ahead of the April 5-13 Jewish holiday of Passover.

Greece’s minister of public order, Takis Theodorikakos, said it was likely the two suspects had been offered money to carry out the attack. “From the evidence we have obtained, the motivation appears to be financial. The organizer they consulted with was a fellow countryman in Iran,” Mr. Theodorikakos told private Antenna television. 

The Jewish community of Athens sent a letter to the minister thanking the authorities for the arrests. “A terrorist attack has been prevented against Jewish targets in a busy area of the historic center of Athens,” the community said in a statement. “Thanks to the methodical work and timely intervention of the security forces, dozens of human lives have been saved.”

The would-be attackers’ aim “was not only to cause the loss of life of innocent citizens, but also to undermine the sense of security in the country, while hurting public institutions” and threatening Greece’s international relations, a police statement said.

The two suspects both entered Greece illegally from neighboring Turkey and had been in the country for at least four months, according to two Greek officials who spoke to the Associated Press. As part of their investigation, police searched multiple sites in Athens as well as in southern Greece and on the western island of Zakynthos.

The two men in custody are believed to be part of an overseas network and are scheduled to be questioned by a public prosecutor on Friday, the officials said.

Greece’s anti-terrorism police division and National Intelligence Service were involved in the arrests. “The operation demonstrates that the country’s security authorities maintain a high state of readiness for all Greeks and all visitors to our country,” Mr. Theodorikakos said in a tweet.

Last year the Mossad helped foil a series of planned Iranian attacks on Israelis in Turkey. In that incident, Iranian operatives were targeting Israeli civilians at a marketplace and hotels in the Turkish city of Istanbul. 

The Jewish community in Greece is one of the oldest in Europe. More than 80 percent of the country’s Jews died in the Holocaust during the Nazi occupation.