Israel Targeted Iran’s Nuclear Program On Its Soil – Ex-Spy Master

Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen says Israel carried out “countless operations” against Iran’s nuclear program when he led the spy agency.

Speaking during an event in Switzerland’s Basel on Monday to mark 125 years since the First Zionist Congress, Cohen denounced the emerging nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, saying that Israel “will continue to do whatever needs to be done” to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms if a deal is signed.

“Without going into too many details, I can tell you the Mossad had many successes in the fight against Iran’s nuclear program,” he said, adding, “We operated around the world and on Iranian soil itself. In the very heartland of the ayatollahs.”

He mentioned as an example the 2018 operation to snatch a trove of Iranian documents -- including draft designs for a nuclear warhead -- which proved Tehran has lied about the military dimensions of its atomic program. "The Iranian regime is lying to the whole world, and we proved it when we brought thousands of documents from the Iranian archives, documents that proved that the Iranians lied to the International Atomic Energy Agency."

“We can never allow a regime that calls for our destruction to get its finger on the nuclear trigger,” Cohen warned.

Earlier in the day, Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged the IAEA to continue its probe of Iran, after President Ebrahim Raisi threatened Israel and said Tehran won’t return to the 2015 nuclear deal unless the UN watchdog stops its investigation into uranium traces found at unexplained sites. “The IAEA’s independence is critical. It should be strictly adhered to, including its ability to investigate violations of nuclear developments in Iran,” Herzog said in Bern at a press conference with Swiss President Ignazio Cassis.