Ex-President claims Israel’s Mossad infiltrated Iran’s intelligence network to steal nuclear secrets

The former president of Iran has shared details of what he claims was a high-stakes infiltration involving subterfuge and nuclear secrets.

Amid the constant chaos unfolding in the Middle East this week, a startling interview with a former president of Iran went by the wayside.

The world watched while holding its breath as the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah came to another ugly head. To the average punter, it’s difficult to understand all the nuances that have led to what some are calling the prologue of WWIII.

Israel has long faced threats from a number of militant groups throughout the Middle East. While these groups shared opposition to Israel, their battles were largely local and fragmented.

Now, their focus has sharpened into a collective mission as the devastating fallout of the October 7 attacks continues to unfold.

But behind the missiles, destroyed buildings and millions of civilians stands a relatively small group of leaders and high-ranking intelligence figures fighting tooth and nail for an edge over their stated adversaries.

Given the hefty budgets spent on information security, rock-solid details about shadowy world of international espionage are difficult to verify.

Whatever the facts, Iranian ex-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s latest bombshell claims about Israel’s alleged behind-the-scenes operations have captured the attention of analysts following the situation closely.

It reads like a page from a spy thriller.

Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-2013) shared details of what he claims was a high-stakes infiltration involving subterfuge and nuclear secrets.

In a recent interview with CNN Türk, Ahmadinejad claimed that he had details of a covert operation conducted by Mossad, Israel’s international intelligence wing, from deep inside Iran’s government.

The former leader claims that Israel’s Mossad had infiltrated the core of Iran’s elite counter-Israel intelligence unit, publicly stating that the head of the unit — who was responsible for monitoring Israel — had been flipped and recruited by Mossad as a double agent.

Along with nearly two dozen of his operatives, the high-ranking individual was allegedly feeding vital secrets to Israel right under the noses of Iran’s top officials.

Mossad’s objective, Ahmadinejad claims, was to steal classified nuclear intelligence. Iran’s nuclear program, which has long been shrouded in secrecy, was a key bargaining chip in the region’s balance of power.

Mossad’s objective, Ahmadinejad claims, was to steal classified nuclear intelligence.

An Iranian uranium-enrichment facility at Natanz.

According to Ahmadinejad, the Israeli agents conducted multiple “complex operations”, of which some have been made public in recent years.

While some operations are kept top secret even after their completion, sometime leaders can’t help but boast about their successes.

Details of one operation were unearthed in 2018, when Israel publicly claimed to have pulled off one of the boldest intelligence heists of the century.

In a highly co-ordinated raid on a warehouse in Tehran, over two dozen Mossad agents reportedly broke into secure safes, making off with over 100,000 files detailing Iran’s nuclear development plans.

They had just six hours to execute the operation, racing against time and Iranian patrols.

When the documents were later verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the world understood the gravity of what had been stolen.

It has been claimed that the intelligence pushed then-US president Donald Trump to abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

Behind closed doors, Ahmadinejad’s claims now raise questions about how deep Mossad’s assets could still be within Iran’s intelligence network.

Tehran has long prided itself on its cutting-edge counterintelligence capabilities, but this latest revelation suggests that even some of the nation’s most powerful men may be at risk of becoming assets for their enemy.

It has been claimed that the intelligence pushed then-U.S. President Donald Trump to abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

‘Israel must decide on all-out war’

Ahmadinejad comments came as a former Mossad chief said he was worried by the scale of Iran’s latest attack on Israel.

“I believe that we were not going to expect this degree of response,” Efraim Halevy said on ABC’s 7.30 this week.

“The problem that we were facing was not only their attempt to revenge themselves of an alleged assassination we carried out in the capital a few months ago for which Israel did not assume responsibility, but for what happened in Lebanon when we killed Nasrallah, who was their man on the spot.

“The entire movement in Lebanon of the Hezbollah are an offshoot of the Iranian intelligence complex.

“From their point of view they believed they had to respond and take their vengeance for what we had dealt Hezbollah.

“(That came) after their action against us for months where tens of thousands of Israelis had to leave their homes in the north … because they were in the sight of the Hezbollah artillery.”

Former Mossad director Efraim Halevy says ‘Israel must decide if we want an all-out war with Iran’.

Mr Halevy, who served as Mossad’s director between 1998 and 2002, said his nation is currently at a crossroad that will likely define its history as a nation.

“We have to decide whether we are interested in a large scale response,” he said. “Israel must decide if we want an all-out war with Iran.”

“I won’t say we won’t be able to win, but Iran is a much larger country than Israel with a much larger population.

“I think it would be wise for Israel not to go instantaneously to the top of the ladder but maybe do something else and give the Iranians one more option of not retaliating back.

“I have been critical of the way he has handled the affairs of Israel in recent years.

“He will at one point have to reconsider his positions because we do not wish to live forever in a state of war.”

Originally published as Ex-President claims Israel’s Mossad infiltrated Iran’s intelligence network to steal nuclear secrets