Israel’s spies infiltrated Iran’s missile and nuclear programs for over 15 years before the recent Israel-Iran War. Leaked intelligence documents revealed that Tehran’s weapons-building infrastructure was far more extensive than previously thought. Mossad and other Israeli military intelligence arms concluded that Iran’s capability, knowledge, and components were advancing rapidly, extending beyond the main sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Israel had been monitoring multiple locations with intelligence agents on the ground for years. Israel began preparing for its attack on Iran as early as 2010, based on intelligence about Iran’s accelerating weapons program. The documents were leaked after the recent 12-day war.
Israel’s military operation targeted the production of centrifuges used to enrich uranium at sites in Tehran and Isfahan. The attacks also focused on seven components at the Natanz facility, Iran’s main enrichment site. Spies on the ground mapped the layout of Natanz, identifying crucial buildings and infrastructure.
Further attacks targeted the electricity infrastructure, research and development buildings, transformer stations, and generator structures at various sites across Iran.
Infiltrating Iran’s missile sites
Many of these sites were established by the SPND, led by Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated in 2020, allegedly by Israel.
The documents also indicated infiltration of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which was attacked later during the war. By the end of 2024, Iran had moved from the research stage to developing advanced explosive and radiation systems, nearing nuclear capability within weeks. The extent of Israel’s intelligence-gathering points to ongoing operations, with suggestions that spies may still remain on Iranian soil.
Mossad’s operations were brought to the forefront more recently with the assassination of Hamas political chief, Haniyeh, in July last year in Tehran. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, admitted that the Israeli and American campaigns inflicted severe damage on Iran’s nuclear facilities and noted there had been no agreement on nuclear talks with Washington. The intelligence documents indicate that Iran aimed to produce dozens of long-range, surface-to-surface missiles per month, leading to a stockpile of up to 1,000 missiles annually.
Israeli intelligence agents identified and targeted the entire missile production industry, both military and civilian. The scale of the infiltration has increased paranoia in Tehran, leading to the arrest of dozens of suspected spies. Mossad’s successful operations against the Iranian threat will be chronicled in the history books, according to Dr.
Efrat Sopher, an Iranian-Israeli analyst at the University of Haifa.
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