Allied Intelligence — 2026-07-26

Mossad Reveals Thwarted Iranian Intelligence Ministry Plot to Infiltrate Israel and Kill Senior Officials

BLUFIsrael's disclosure confirms penetration of Iranian recruitment tradecraft but leaves intact the criminal-intermediary infrastructure Tehran will use to reconstitute assassination cells.

Mossad, working with the Shin Bet and foreign intelligence and security services, disclosed on Thursday that it disrupted an Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC operation that used criminal intermediaries to build a cell for infiltrating Israel and assassinating senior officials 12. Israeli officials named a French resident, Servet Ozkur ("Philippe"), as the recruiter tasked with assembling the operational cell, and said he traveled to Iran multiple times for instructions and payment before France expelled him over the plot 2. Philippe was recruited by Baba Hajijafan ("Babak") and Mehmet Nedim Yigit ("Nedim"), both based in Iran under Iranian Ministry of Intelligence protection and linked to drug trafficker Naji Zindashti, whom Israel has separately accused of running terror operations for Tehran 2. The investigation also identified four Iranian intelligence officers behind the plot, one of whom, Asadollah Behzadokhsari, was killed during Israel's Operation Roaring Lion against Iran 2.

Analysis
The disclosure functions primarily as a signaling exercise, confirming Israeli penetration of Iranian recruitment tradecraft rather than closing off the threat. Naming four Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC officers, including one killed in Operation Roaring Lion, lets Israel claim a battlefield and counterintelligence win simultaneously. Babak's and Nedim's continued presence in Iran under Ministry protection, tied to a known narcotics-linked facilitator network, shows the recruitment infrastructure survives the disruption. Israeli and allied security services must now assume Tehran will rebuild cell structures around new criminal intermediaries rather than abandon the proxy model.

2 sources