Israel's intelligence agency has conducted covert operations "in the heart of Iran" to cripple the Islamic regime's nuclear program, Israel’s former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said at the World Zionist Congress gathering in Basel Switzerland Monday.
This comes as Israel’s government is attempting to persuade the Biden administration to surrender its efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, which according to many will provide Tehran with a path to a nuclear weapon.
During the event in Switzerland, the former Mossad director under former Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu told the audience that during his time as Mossad's director, the agency conducted "countless operations" against Iran's nuclear program. While Cohen did not give too many details of successes against Iran, he mentioned that the agency has operated globally and on Iranian soil close to the ayatollahs.
According to Cohen, the Islamic Republic of Iran had repeatedly lied to the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about its nuclear program and that his agency and its operations played a significant role in unmasking the regime's activities. The former Mossad chief stated that Mossad "brought thousands of documents from the Iranian archives," proving that Iran lied to the IAEA and the whole world.
The documents Cohen referred to were in reference to a 2018 covert operation in Tehran, where Israeli operatives removed a treasure trove of nuclear documents about Iran's nuclear program, including draft designs for a nuclear warhead and nuclear officials responsible for such production. The reaction to the operation from American officials was shocking at the time, given that Israel had acquired classified Iranian documents.
Regarding the ongoing Vienna talks between Iran and American officials, Cohen stated Israel will never allow the Islamic regime to obtain nuclear arms to use against the Jewish state and to prevent the Islamic government from acquiring such weapons if a nuclear deal is signed. Cohen went on to say that Iran seeks to surround Israel through its terrorist proxies in Gaza, Southern Lebanon, and Syria in the north, where terror groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) plan and conduct terrorist attacks against Israel.
In the past few weeks, the Islamic Republic and the U.S. have exchanged written responses through third parties on specific points of the roadmap to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement, which would lift economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for restricting its rapidly advancing nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Gantz have slammed the emerging deal, arguing that Tehran has manipulated the talks and the proposed measures would provide a bevy of benefits to the regime and its terrorist proxies. For his part, President Biden has refused Prime Minister Lapid's call, prompting the current Mossad director David Barnea to visit Washington to present the White House with the Israel’s warnings.
The 2015 nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave the Islamic Republic economic sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to guarantee that it would be for peaceful purposes. However, many national security experts argue that the terms in the agreement have provided Iran with the ability to produce a nuclear weapon while providing economic support for the regime at a time when America and its allies need to exert maximum pressure against the mullahs.
Israel has long opposed the nuclear agreement with Iran, arguing that the Islamic regime seeks to wipe out the Jewish state from the globe, prompting Israeli officials to enact covert actions inside and outside Iran against Iranian nuclear scientists and to tamper with nuclear facilities throughout Iran. While Iran has denied any nefarious intentions and claimed its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, reports indicate the regime has enough stockpile uranium to create a nuclear warhead.
