Mossad Operations Exposed: Israeli Intelligence Recruited and Trained Iranian Operatives for Covert Missions

A comprehensive Israeli media investigation has unveiled sweeping details regarding covert Mossad activities spanning Iran and Lebanon, exposing the agency's recruitment and training of Iranian nationals to execute sensitive field operations.

According to reporting by journalist Ron Ben Yishai, individuals who appeared on Israeli television on June 13, 2025, during coverage of Operation "Lion's Cub," were not Mossad personnel as initially believed, but rather Iranian nationals who had been recruited and trained within Israel. These operatives were subsequently deployed back into Iran to execute assigned missions.

The investigation indicates that during spring 2025 preparations for the operation, one recruited team was tasked with neutralizing Iranian air defense systems to provide Israeli aircraft with operational freedom over Tehran. Team members received encrypted communications notifying them of approaching mission dates, though specific targets and locations remained undisclosed for security purposes.

Specialized equipment—including weapons, missiles, drones, and explosive warheads—was transported through clandestine channels, with components concealed within innocuous items and assembled by operatives using skills acquired during their Israeli training. Multiple teams participated in parallel operations that evening, including missions supporting strikes against Revolutionary Guards Air Force leadership and efforts to incapacitate air defense and ballistic missile systems across Tehran and western Iran.

Precise coordination between ground-based operatives and Israeli aircraft flight paths proved essential to operational success, though some technical complications occurred, according to a former Mossad official cited in the report.

Mossad Chief David Barnea observed the operation's progression from the Israeli Defense Ministry operations center in Tel Aviv alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. Initial nervousness gave way as indicators of success materialized.

The report characterizes these operations as validation of Barnea's strategic vision since assuming leadership in 2021—a framework emphasizing expanded reliance on non-Israeli operatives rather than Israeli personnel conducting direct field work. The agency deployed a covert combat unit comprising non-Israeli operatives conducting intelligence and field operations in coordination with the Israeli military, producing what the report describes as strategically significant results.

Under Barnea's tenure, the Mossad underwent substantial organizational restructuring, including reconfigured agent operating units, expanded recruitment through internet and social media platforms, and establishment of new specialized operations divisions focused on psychological and technological influence. Former agency employees characterize these transformations as a "biometric revolution," reflecting a fundamental shift from relying on Israeli operatives with false identities to employing operatives and agents from target nations.

The investigation references the September 2024 "bomb pager" operation targeting Hezbollah members, managed by one of the newly established operational wings under Barnea's restructuring.

Regarding Iran's nuclear infrastructure, the report discloses that Barnea had long maintained conviction that the Israeli military lacked capacity to destroy the Fordow nuclear facility—fortified beneath mountains—through aerial strikes alone. Consequently, he developed an alternative plan employing combat agent teams to conduct rapid ground-based operations inside Iran coordinated with Israeli military forces.

Development of this plan extended over two years, but former Defense Minister Yoav Galant questioned its feasibility, and multiple professional committees raised concerns. The October 7 outbreak of the "Iron Swords" war led to the entire project's suspension.

This freeze sparked significant friction between Barnea and former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy, with the latter accusing the Mossad chief of failing to inform the military to cease preparations despite billions of shekels already invested in the initiative.

Tensions between Barnea and Halevy extended to Lebanon strategy management. The Mossad chief advocated for more aggressive offensive operations against Hezbollah targets and repeatedly urged strikes in response to Hezbollah activities. In August 2024, Barnea recommended to Netanyahu that primary military focus shift from Gaza toward Lebanon. He also supported activating Operation "Pigerat" upon emergence of exposure risks, whereas Halevy preferred integrating it within broader military operations.

Regarding the assassination of former Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Mossad championed the operation's execution, with Lebanese operatives deploying devices enhancing Israeli air strike precision. Subsequent disagreements between the agency and Israeli military emerged concerning operational credit.

The report highlights establishment of an "Influence Department" within the Mossad in late 2021, dedicated to promoting Iranian regime change and establishing a Western-aligned successor government. During a White House meeting, Barnea presented Trump with a plan involving armed Kurdish groups from Iraq advancing toward Iranian Kurdish regions to catalyze broad anti-regime uprising. The plan remained unimplemented after information leaked to Turkey, which intervened to prevent its execution.

Mossad officials continue believing the Iranian regime faces potential collapse within one to three years if current sanctions and pressures persist without a new Washington-Tehran agreement.

As Barnea's leadership concludes, the report portrays an intelligence chief who endeavored to reconfigure the Mossad from a traditional covert operations agency into a multifaceted offensive instrument extending across Iran and Lebanon—a transformation whose strategic consequences remain contested within Israel's security establishment.