Mossad’s ‘Operation Rising Lion’ allegedly smuggled missiles and drones into Iran: Report

Israel’s attack on Iran on June 12 was not as surprising as it seems if the Mossad claims are to be believed. According to a New York Times report, the Israeli spies smuggled missiles and drones into Iran and even lured top officials into one place for a meeting to execute their elimination.

The ‘surprise attack’ was planned months in advance, the report claims, citing Mossad sources, adding that the attack was planned not only for Iran’s top officials but also for the country’s nuclear and military facilities. 

Precision weapons, drones, and missiles were smuggled right into Tehran, as per the report. They were used to target the defence systems of Iran from within, especially anti-missile systems, radars, and event uranium facilities for nuclear plants.

On June 12, the drones were finally activated and Tehran’s surface-to-surface missile launchers were targeted, as per the report.

The operation was named ‘Rising Lion’.

The report also cited an Israeli officer telling media that air force commanders of Iran were tricked into a gathering and were later wiped out.

How the officials were brought to a specific location is not clear, noted the report.

Around 200 Israeli aircraft launched a major offensive targeting approximately 100 locations across Iran, according to the Israeli military.

Among the key targets was the Natanz nuclear facility — Iran’s main enrichment site — where thick plumes of black smoke were seen rising. 

By morning, Israeli forces had reportedly destroyed multiple radar systems and surface-to-air missile batteries in western Iran.

The strikes also led to the killing of several top Iranian military figures. These include IRGC chief Gen. Hossein Salami, military chief Mohammad Bagheri, emergency command head Gholam Ali Rashid, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who led the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division.

Israeli spies have been known to operate in Iran before this, too. Iran in May executed a "high-ranking spy" of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, the media reported.

The executed, identified as Mohsen Langarneshin, was convicted of providing field and technical support for Mossad's operations in Iran, including the assassination of Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, a member of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, in Tehran in May 2022, a news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported.

Langarneshin provided Mossad with extensive "logistical, technical and operational support" for two years, starting in 2020, the judiciary said via its official news agency, Mizan.

It added that he was executed following the completion of the legal and judicial processes, another news agency reported.

Caught in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has executed numerous individuals over their alleged links to Mossad, particularly those accused of sabotage and assassination efforts aimed at undermining its nuclear programme.

In December 2023, three men and a woman were executed for their alleged links to Mossad.

(with inputs from syndicated feed)