The Washington Post reports that, following military strikes, Israel launched a covert campaign to destabilize Tehran’s regime. Operatives directly called senior Iranian officials, warning them to abandon Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or face death.
In the wake of its initial military strikes against Iran on June 13, Israel launched a sophisticated covert campaign aimed at intimidating senior Iranian officials, The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the operation.
This effort, reportedly designed to sow division and instability within Tehran’s theocratic regime, involved direct threats to high-ranking individuals, according to the newspaper.
Israeli intelligence operatives, fluent in Persian, reportedly contacted over 20 Iranian officials via their personal cellphones. These calls delivered stark warnings: cease support for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime or face deadly consequences.
The Washington Post obtained an audio recording and transcript of one such call made on June 13. In the recording, an Israeli operative tells a senior Iranian general, “I can advise you now, you have 12 hours to escape with your wife and child. Otherwise, you’re on our list right now.”
The operative further emphasized Israel’s proximity and capability, stating, “We’re closer to you than your own neck vein. Put this in your head. May God protect you.”
The general, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was instructed to create a video disassociating himself from the Iranian government within 12 hours and send it via Telegram. While it remains unclear if the video was produced, a primary objective of the operation was to “deter and confuse the Tehran leadership.”
This intimidation campaign is part of a broader covert action complementing Israel’s military assaults on Iranian nuclear sites, weapons production facilities, and missile launchers. Israeli officials stated that this operation utilized clandestine intelligence teams and pre-positioned assets within Iranian territory.
The initial Israeli strikes on June 13 resulted in the elimination of several key figures, including Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of the IRGC; Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces; and Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, a prominent nuclear physicist. The Israeli operative on the recorded call explicitly referenced these deaths to the Iranian general, saying, “I’m calling from a country that two hours ago sent Bagheri, Salami, Shamkhani, one by one, to hell.”
The covert campaign also targeted second and third-tier Iranian officials who survived or were not initially targeted, according to The Washington Post. The goal is to create fear and make it difficult for Khamenei to fill positions left vacant by those eliminated.
An official familiar with the operation stated, “The second-tier leadership that is supposed to inherit the positions and now fill in the places of those who have been eliminated, they are terrified.” The official added that this has created “serious difficulties” for Khamenei in appointing successors, with some more serious candidates refusing to take positions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not reply to a request for comment.An official familiar with the operation stated, “The second-tier leadership that is supposed to inherit the positions and now fill in the places of those who have been eliminated, they are terrified.” The official added that this has created “serious difficulties” for Khamenei in appointing successors, with some more serious candidates refusing to take positions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not reply to a request for comment.
