The Israeli press reported that Israel’s recent targeting of key military positions and leaders in Iran was the result of intelligence operations.
An Israeli intelligence agency, which is alleged to have infiltrated much of Iran’s security apparatus, is responsible for the strikes that destroyed a large portion of its key defensive infrastructure and killed military commanders.
Numerous people have reportedly been detained and accused of spying for Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, supporting Israel in the media, or infuriating the general public.
To prevent Israeli hackers from stealing sensitive communications, the Iranian government recently instructed senior officials and their security teams to avoid using smartphones connected to the internet. Meanwhile, it is believed that Iranian security services have reportedly asked the public to report any buildings they’ve rented to businesses or individuals over the past few years.
How extensive has the infiltration been, and how long has it been planning, and what has been characterized as an unprecedented Israeli intelligence operation that led to its recent strikes on Iran?
How significant a part did Israeli intelligence play in the country’s initial counterattacks?
a significant one.
Shortly after Israel launched its attacks on Iran, reports of intelligence operations that came before the “unprecedented” attack began to surface. Details about how both human intelligence and AI were used to carry out the attack, which senior members of Israel’s intelligence community claimed hampered a large portion of Iran’s air defenses, were revealed in interviews with senior officials.
The Associated Press published interviews with 10 Israeli intelligence and military officials who were aware of the strike on June 17 and shortly after.
Sima Shine, the former Mossad research director, told the AP, “This attack is the culmination of years of work by the Mossad to target Iran’s nuclear program.” Additionally, the article provided details on how Israeli agents were able to smuggle a number of drones and missile systems into Iran, which were then used to attack numerous targets created by a US AI model based on information that Israeli agents had provided to it from previous strikes.
Are there still intelligence operations?
They appear to be.
Saeed Izadi and Behnam Shahryari, two senior officers in Iran’s Quds force, were found dead over the weekend, according to Israel’s claim that its intelligence networks had located them.
Major-General Ali Shademani was found and killed by Israel on June 17; that was just four days after his predecessor was killed in a targeted airstrike.
A target would have to completely rid themselves of any electronic devices that could connect to the internet in order to avoid detection, according to Israeli military intelligence specialist Miri Eisin, who spoke to The Observer in the United Kingdom. She said that “most people don’t take themselves out of the grid.” You can reach anyone, they say.
According to defense analyst Hamze Attar from Luxembourg, “Israel likely has around 30 to 40 cells operating inside of Iran,” the majority of which are made up of collaborators, rather than Israeli agents, which also contributes to Iran’s weakening, he said, citing assembly instructions found on the hardware that was seized by authorities.
He said that some of those cells will be accountable for bringing weapons into Israel, others for carrying out attacks, and others for gathering intelligence.
How long has this been occurring?
Israeli intelligence operations inside Iran are not recent. According to analysts, operations designed to monitor, infiltrate, sabotage, and undermine Iranian defenses date back to the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged the scope of Israeli operations in Iran in a speech released in November 2024, telling ISNA news agency that the “problem of infiltration had become very serious in recent years.”
The former parliamentary speaker and nuclear negotiator continued, “There have been some instances of negligence for years.”
The Israeli-led Lebanese rebel group Hezbollah only gained access to its supply chain after its infiltration by Israeli intelligence in September 2024, allowing the group to detonate communication devices. Hassan Nasrallah, its leader, was killed in the same manner after Israeli agents found out where he was hiding. Similar plots were employed in the Hamas political leader’s assassination in Tehran in July of that year when an explosive device placed in his residence a few weeks prior to his death exploded.
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by a remote-controlled gun mounted on the back of a pick-up truck in the past 20 years by Israel. The Stuxnet computer virus, which was thought to have infected 30, 000 computers across at least 14 Iranian nuclear facilities, was also caused by Israel.
Does Iran have an Israeli spy agency?
Absolutely.
Seven Israeli citizens were detained in late October on suspicion of spying for Iran, according to Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet. Authorities in Haifa had earlier detained a further group of seven people on suspicion of aiding Iran’s intelligence ministry during the war.
According to Israeli police sources at the time, additional covert networks with Iran-linked connections may exist there.
Why do we know so much about this covert operation?
Because, in the opinion of analysts, publicity can also be a valuable addition to an intelligence agency’s toolkit.
While gaining points at home from other countries, revealing the extent to which a foreign nation’s security infrastructure can be compromised and infiltrated undermines that nation’s morale.
Source: Aljazeera
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