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James Bond is smiling.
Among one of most astonishing revelations about Israel’s lightning military attack against Iran is its bold decision well before the war began to insert large, secret operational teams into the Islamic country.
“Operation Rising Lion’s” clandestine operations will go down in military history as the most ambitious covert military offensive in modern warfare. The press has briefly noted it, but they are missing the real story.
Israel’s secret Iranian operations led by Mossad, the country’s spy agency, have not stopped. They are ongoing. And only a few are talking about it.
One who is talking about this omission and is dialed into this extraordinary military campaign is John Spencer. He currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and is Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project,
Spencer told me that, indeed, Mossad is continuing to aggressively and freely operate throughout Iran. “Most mainstream media treat Mossad’s presence in Iran as something that happened in the past. That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the current reality,” he said.
“Mossad has a long track record of building deep operational infrastructure inside enemy territory. There is every indication that those networks are still in place and active. They are likely supporting real-time targeting of regime leadership, missile systems, and mobile launchers, while also disrupting Iranian internal security from within,” he told me.
For the moment, let’s briefly note what we know about these covert operations. Mossad surreptitiously moved into Iran parts for hundreds of quadcopter drones equipped with explosives and created a factory inside the country to stealthily assemble them.
They brought them in with suitcases, commercial trucks, and shipping containers. The secret agents also shipped in ammunition and weaponry to attack Iranian missile bases. The drones were launched from inside the country.
On-the-ground, agents attacked Iran’s air defense system and targeted its missile launchers. Other Mossad commando units positioned guided weapons from open areas near Iranian surface-to-air missile launches and fired away.
Some Mossad units were hidden in vehicles, where they deployed sophisticated technologies to disable Iranian air defense systems.
James Bond is smiling.
The psychological and real-world impact on Khamenei appears significant. As Reuters reported on Tuesday from Dubai, Khamenei today is a “lonely figure” who “has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli strikes, leaving major holes in his inner circle.”
The Supeme Leader, age 86, is in hiding, but on Tuesday President Trump posted, “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target,” he stated. “We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
Spencer also says Mossad most likely is working with Iran’s underground resistant movement which despise Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei and his brutal autocracy. He’s ruled Iran with an iron fist since 1989.
The urban warfare specialist told me Iran’s dense cities permit Mossad agents to move about freely. “Cities like Tehran, Esfahan, and Mashhad offer complex terrain for covert activity, but more importantly, they are filled with freedom-loving Iranians who do not support the regime.
“That reality creates both opportunity and cover for infiltration, movement, and the safeguarding of intelligence assets. The combination of hostile terrain and sympathetic civilians makes Iran’s cities not just targets, but platforms for internal disruption,” he said.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on X that the IDF has destroyed the Iranian regime’s internal security headquarters, the core of the dictator’s repressive machinery.
Although the last six days have made spy history, it’s not the first time they have worked undercover against the Islamic Jihadis.
Last year, the world was stunned when Ismail Haniyeh, the billionaire Chairman of Hamas was killed in Tehran while attending the country’s presidential inauguration. Haniyeh was killed while he was sleeping in a presidential guest house.
And, of course, the world was captivated by Israel’s “Beeper” attack in which Israel activated explosives inside personal beepers carried by thousands of Hezbollah fighters who were stationed throughout Lebanon.
The enormity of Israel’s accomplishments is breathtaking. In the first 24 hours, Iran’s top military and intelligence leadership was decapitated.
And the assassination of top military commanders continues.
On Tuesday the Israel Defense Forces eliminated Maj. Gen. Ali Shadamani only a few days after took over from his assassinated predecessor. Mossad most likely provided some intelligence to the IDF about his whereabouts.
Shadamani was Iran’s War-Time Chief, the most senior ranking commander and one of the military’s closest confidants of Iran’s Ayatollah, according to the IDF.
Aaron Cohen, who formerly worked in special operations for Mossad told Fox News the spy agency’s infiltration has been occurring for years. “This was years in the making. Deep cover teams, full logistical coordination and total operational control.”
Cohen added, “So my take is this is psychological warfare, going after those generals, eliminating 20 of the top generals. And it tells the regime, Israeli is already here, and we know where you sleep, and we don’t miss.”
Spencer agrees. “The fear that Mossad is already inside, watching and waiting, is corrosive. It forces leadership to question their inner circle, disrupts trust between commanders, and triggers internal purges. Every strike deepens paranoia. Every assassination forces a recalculation. This environment is possibly paralyzing for many decision-makers. When officials no longer feel secure enough to communicate, gather, or move freely, their ability to lead, plan, or respond effectively breaks down” he says.
On Wednesday, the Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on X, “I warn the Iranian dictator: Whoever follows in the path of Saddam Hussein, will end up like Saddam Hussein.”
Hussein was eventually captured hiding in a hole in Iraq. Could that be Khamenei’s future?
The days and weeks ahead should be fascinating. We will see the open military operations of the IDF, but we’ll probably not see the hand of the Mossad, now the world’s premier spy agency.
Richard Pollock
THE ARTFUL DILETTANTE 