Mossad's ghost army runs wild behind enemy lines in Iran

Economic Times

4 hours ago

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Mossad spies wearing masks, hats and goggles
Also Read: Iran executes alleged Mossad spy Ismail Fakhri by hanging
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How Mossad managed to infiltrate Iran
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Iran yesterday executed a man convicted of spying for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad . His case follows a string of similar executions in Iran targeting individuals accused of collaborating with Israel. Over the past few days, Iranian officials have arrested a number of people on suspicion of spying for Mossad. Mossad has infiltrated deep into Iran. The latest Israeli attack on Iran was mounted with the help of Mossad operatives within Iran. Mossad spies were already active on the ground in enemy territory.The fear of Mossad is real and palpable after the recent Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and killing of military officials. CNN has reported that intense paranoia has gripped Iranian authorities which are hunting Israeli spies said to be everywhere and acting with impunity.The Intelligence Ministry of Iran has become so paranoid about the ubiquity of Mossad operatives and collaborators within Iran that it has been asking the public to report suspicious activity and issuing guidance on how to spot collaborators, CNN has reported. One statement from the ministry urges people to be wary of strangers wearing masks or goggles, driving pickup trucks and carrying large bags or filming around military, industrial, or residential areas."Elsewhere, a poster published by the state-affiliated Nour News – which is close to Iran's security apparatus – singled out for suspicion people who wear 'masks, hats, and sunglasses, even at night' and those who receive 'frequent package deliveries by courier.' The poster asks people to report 'unusual sounds from inside the house, such as screaming, the sound of metal equipment, continuous banging' and 'houses with curtains drawn even during the day.' Another poster, attributed to the police and published on state media, advised landlords who had recently rented their homes to notify the police immediately," the CNN report said.Citing Iran's state-controlled media, the report said that the Basij, a paramilitary wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guard which was used to crack down on anti-regime protests, has been deployed in night patrols to increase surveillance in the wake of the Israeli infiltration, indicating the pervasive fear of Israeli operatives running wild behind enemy lines.In a video statement on Monday, Iran's chief of police Ahmad-Reza Radan urged 'traitors' to come forward, suggesting those who realized they had been 'deceived by the enemy' might receive more lenient treatment and be 'honored' by Iran – while those who were caught would be 'taught a lesson that the Zionist enemy is being given now', as per the report.The paranoia about Mossad operatives has grown after the recent Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran in which Mossad operatives played a key role. Mossad established drone bases long before the attack while its operatives deployed precision-guided weapons systems near Iranian missile air defence systems, which were activated at the same time as the Israeli air force began striking its targets. The Mossad was also involved in the killing of top Iranian military officials. Mossad even shared a video with CNN showing Israeli operatives smuggling weapons into Iran in advance of Friday's strikes. 'Mossad has treated Iran like its playground for years now,' Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and curator of the Iranist newsletter, told CNN. 'From assassinating top nuclear scientists to sabotaging Iranian nuclear facilities, Israel has proved time and time again that it has always had the upper hand in this shadow war that has now been playing out in the open since the first tit-for-tat strikes in April 2024.'Mossad's presence inside Iran has had a chilling psychological effect on the regime. Paranoia among top officials has skyrocketed. Executions of suspected Israeli collaborators have increased, often without evidence. The IRGC has undergone massive purges and restructuring, sometimes harming its own cohesion more than any external force. Mossad's ability to act with such impunity has damaged the prestige of Iran's intelligence and counter-intelligence services. In effect, Mossad has not just conducted operations, it has created a climate of internal fear and systemic distrust.For over a decade, Iran has become a playground for Mossad. Widely regarded as one of the most formidable spy agencies in the world, Today, Mossad has infiltrated the heart of Iran's security, nuclear and military infrastructure with a level of access that would have seemed implausible just years ago. Through a mixture of human intelligence, cyber offensive, high-tech assassinations and psychological warfare, Mossad has turned Iran into a covert battlefield, disrupting its nuclear ambitions and sowing paranoia at the highest levels of its government.Mossad's obsession with Iran's nuclear ambitions dates back decades, but the past 10–15 years have seen a dramatic escalation in both scale and daring. The turning point came in the early 2010s, as Iran moved closer to achieving uranium enrichment milestones. Israel, feeling isolated in its concerns, doubled down on covert action. Israel's new strategy was based on recruiting operatives inside Iran, including dissidents, minorities (such as Kurds and Baloch), and informants with access to nuclear and military facilities. It embedded sleeper cells, likely for years, with access to logistics, surveillance networks and communication hubs. It cultivated defectors and insiders from Iran's own intelligence and military services, possibly even within the IRGC itself.What enabled Mossad's infiltration into Iran was its internal security gaps. Despite its authoritarian apparatus, Iran suffers from deep institutional weaknesses. Fragmented intelligence services often act independently, allowing Mossad to exploit bureaucratic blind spots. Widespread corruption makes infiltration easier. Bribes can secure documents, access and even silence. Internal dissent among minority groups, women and opposition factions has created a pool of disaffected individuals open to collaboration with foreign actors.Also, Mossad invested heavily in cutting-edge surveillance, AI, and robotics, allowing it to conduct operations with minimal physical presence. The 2020 assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh using a satellite-linked, AI-powered remote-controlled machine gun was a paradigm-shifting display of remote warfare. Drone warfare and cyber-attacks (like the Stuxnet virus, co-developed with the US) allowed for deep disruption of Iran's nuclear timeline without boots on the ground.Mossad also leverages regional assets and intelligence-sharing networks with Kurdish militias in Iraq and Baluchi rebels near the Pakistan-Iran border, who provide on-the-ground support and smuggling routes. Azerbaijan and the UAE are said to secretly provide staging grounds or access to logistics for Mossad teams. Global dissident Iranian networks also assist in intelligence gathering and recruitment.In 2018, Mossad executed an ambitious operation, the Tehran nuclear archive heist. Mossad agents penetrated a guarded warehouse in Tehran and stole over 100,000 documents related to Iran's secret AMAD Project. The files were extracted in hours and smuggled out of the country the same night, a staggering logistical and intelligence feat. In 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the scientist widely considered the father of Iran's nuclear program, was gunned down using a robotic, satellite-controlled machine gun, without a single Mossad agent present at the scene. In 2021, an explosion disabled advanced IR-6 centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility. Mossad was believed to have pre-positioned explosive devices months earlier and activated them remotely.What makes Mossad's penetration into Iran so remarkable is not just the success of individual operations, but the sheer consistency and boldness with which it has operated for over a decade deep inside one of the world's most closed and security-obsessed nations. The Islamic Republic, for all its counter-intelligence might, appears unable to counter an adversary that walks its streets, steals its secrets and kills its scientists, and then vanishes like a ghost.