What Role Did the ‘Mossad-Tehran Branch’ Play in Operation Rising Lion?

People gather near a damaged building, in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People gather near a damaged building, in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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What Role Did the ‘Mossad-Tehran Branch’ Play in Operation Rising Lion?

People gather near a damaged building, in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People gather near a damaged building, in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Just hours after launching its military operation “Rising Lion” against Iran, Israel revealed an extensive and long-standing intelligence campaign conducted by its spy agency Mossad deep inside Iranian territory, especially in the capital, where it reportedly established a covert branch.

According to an Israeli security source on Friday, Mossad special units carried out a series of covert operations inside Iran in the lead-up to the strikes. These included deploying precision-guided weapons near surface-to-air missile sites, using advanced technology to disrupt Iranian air defenses, and establishing a drone launch base close to Tehran.

The source said Friday’s operation was a joint effort between the Israeli military, Mossad, and the country’s defense industry, built on years of meticulous planning and intelligence-gathering. Israeli media, including Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that Mossad had established the drone base long before the strike, with explosive-laden UAVs later launched toward Iranian missile sites.

The attack reflects Israel’s broader, long-term strategy toward Iran, built on the combined efforts of its military and intelligence services. While Iran has maintained that the strikes were conducted entirely from outside the country, seeking to avoid acknowledging serious internal security breaches, Israel insists that Mossad played a decisive role on the ground.

The agency is credited with assassinations of IRGC and Iranian military figures, data collection on nuclear scientists, and compiling a high-value target list.

An Israeli security source claimed Mossad established a “branch” inside Tehran, planting surveillance devices across dozens of locations and even executing sabotage operations near nuclear facilities and missile launch sites.

While some analysts view these claims as psychological warfare or propaganda, evidence from past operations suggests a degree of credibility. Over the years, Israel has conducted bold, complex missions inside Iran that appear too sophisticated to have originated solely from outside.

Mossad’s activity in Iran dates back years but intensified significantly in the last two. According to Israeli sources, the agency effectively set up a wide-reaching operational base inside Iran, complete with advanced equipment and transport assets.

Mossad has been linked to the assassinations of at least four Iranian nuclear scientists: Masoud Alimohammadi, Majid Shahriari, Darioush Rezaeinejad, and Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan - between 2010 and 2012 - most of them killed using magnetic bombs in central Tehran. In 2020, top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in an ambush attributed to a Mossad unit.

The most high-profile operation came in 2018, when Mossad agents reportedly stole Iran’s nuclear archive, including 50,000 documents and 163 CDs, from a Tehran warehouse in a seven-hour raid. According to former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, who oversaw the mission, the 20-member team (none of whom were Israeli nationals) operated inside Iran for two years before executing the mission undetected.

Though Iranian officials initially dismissed the scale of the operation, they later claimed to have arrested “all the terrorists” who helped Mossad, blaming opposition groups like the MEK. However, Israel insists it relied not on political dissidents, but on individuals disillusioned with the regime, mercenaries, and Western intelligence support.

A retired Mossad officer, known only as Brig. Gen. “A”, told the right-wing Israeli group The Guardians that Iran’s internal repression and isolation have left it vulnerable. He stressed the close cooperation between Mossad, Israeli military intelligence, and the defense industry in preparing for the confrontation with Iran.

Operation “Rising Lion,” launched this week, included direct strikes on neighborhoods housing top IRGC commanders in Tehran. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described it as a “preemptive strike,” following warnings from US President Donald Trump about an imminent Israeli military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.



What to Know about Israel's Plan to Retake Gaza City

A plume of smoke rises during an Israeli strike on Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 13, 2025. (AFP)
A plume of smoke rises during an Israeli strike on Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 13, 2025. (AFP)
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What to Know about Israel's Plan to Retake Gaza City

A plume of smoke rises during an Israeli strike on Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 13, 2025. (AFP)
A plume of smoke rises during an Israeli strike on Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on June 13, 2025. (AFP)

Israel announced early Friday that it plans to take over Gaza City, the largest urban area in the territory and one that has already suffered extensive devastation in repeated Israeli raids.

Another major ground operation in one of the few areas of Gaza not already under evacuation orders would likely spark even more mass displacement and further disrupt efforts to deliver desperately needed food in the territory, where experts have warned that famine is unfolding, The Associated Press reported.

Israel has faced mounting calls from many of its closest allies to end the war, and the plan faces opposition within Israel from families of the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and members of the security establishment who say there is little to gain militarily at this point.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says more military pressure is needed to achieve Israel's goals of returning the hostages and destroying Hamas.

Not much is left of Gaza City

Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and launched major ground operations there within weeks of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war. Several neighborhoods and key infrastructure have been almost completely destroyed.

It was Gaza's most populous city on the eve of the war, home to some 700,000 people, about the population of Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands fled under Israeli evacuation orders at the start of the war but many returned during a ceasefire earlier this year.

Israel already controls and has largely destroyed around 75% of Gaza, with most of the population of some 2 million Palestinians now sheltering in Gaza City, the central city of Deir al-Balah and the sprawling displacement camps in the Muwasi area along the coast.

Israel's offensive has already killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The UN and independent experts view its figures as the most reliable estimate of war casualties. Israel disputes them but has not provided its own.

Opposition inside Israel

Another major ground operation will almost certainly lead to the killing of more Israeli soldiers in hit-and-run attacks, eroding domestic support for the war, and could endanger the remaining hostages.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. Most have since been released in ceasefires or other deals. Fifty remain inside the territory, around 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive.

The Palestinian Hamas group released videos in recent days showing emaciated hostages, saying they are suffering the same starvation as the Palestinian population. Hamas is believed to be holding the hostages in tunnels and other secret locations and has hinted it will kill them if Israeli forces draw near.

Former security officials have also spoken out against further military operations, saying there is little to gain after Hamas has been militarily decimated. Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, reportedly argued during a Security Cabinet meeting that a more sweeping plan to retake all of Gaza would endanger the hostages and put added strain on the army after two years of regional wars.

International outrage Israel has come under mounting international pressure in recent weeks as images of starving children have shone a light on the worsening hunger crisis. Twenty-eight Western-aligned nations, including some of its closest allies, called for it to end the war last month.

Even President Donald Trump, the strongest supporter it has ever had in the White House, has expressed concern about the hunger crisis. He has said he wants to end the war and return all the hostages, but also that it's up to Israel to decide its next moves.

Israel has dismissed the criticism, saying it has done everything it can to limit harm to civilians and blaming Hamas for their deaths. Netanyahu has denied there is starvation in Gaza despite eyewitness testimony, data compiled by experts and dire warnings from United Nations officials and major international aid groups operating there.

Netanyahu has said more military pressure is needed to get Hamas to agree to release the hostages and surrender.

But Hamas has already withstood one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns since World War II. The group says it will only release the remaining hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.