Group Allegedly Linked To Iran Leaks Personal Files About Mossad Chief

A Telegram channel apparently linked to the Islamic Republic has leaked photos and personal documents about Mossad director David Barnea and his family.

The channel, called "Open Hands", released a video on Tuesday showing the documents and photos and claimed it obtained the material with an extensive surveillance campaign ongoing since 2014.

The channel was created hours before the leak and published multiple versions of the video with subtitles in Arabic and Hebrew as well as English, but the same video was republished with Persian subtitles and a logo of Iranian website NourNews, which is affiliated with the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani.

The group also posted the video on other platforms such as Youtube and Twitter with these captions: “We've got a small gift for the Mossad; With LOVE for David. Happy Purim. To Be Continued”. In their Youtube channel, the video is titled “covert intelligence gathering operation from director of Mossad”.

Files shown in the video include personal photos of Barnea with his family, plane tickets purchased by him, tax documents, and a satellite image of what is claimed to be his house.

The Israeli prime minister’s office issued a statement, saying the “material shown is old and did not originate from the Mossad director’s personal phone.”

Iran claimed it targeted a secret Israeli intelligence base in Iraq’s Erbil with ballistic missiles on March 13, presumably in retaliation for an Israeli aerial attack that destroyed hundreds of drones at an IRGC airbase.