JERUSALEM — The Israeli Air Force’s strikes in Iran were prefaced by a number of covert operations spearheaded by Israel’s spy agency, including building a drone base inside of Iran, an Israeli security official said Friday.
The new details showcasing the extent of Israeli Mossad commandos’ involvement in the campaign — gleaned from a rare English language statement from the secretive outfit — highlight the extent of Israel’s planning and buildup behind Tel Aviv’s surprise attack targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and other sites.
In the statement, an Israeli security official described how Mossad sought to preemptively and covertly “neutralize Iranian air defense capabilities threatening Israeli fighter jets” by secretly installing strike systems and other advanced technologies on the platforms, which were then destroyed at the outset of Tel Aviv’s operations Friday.
In addition, Mossad built a drone base in Iran and then used the aerial vehicle there on Friday to target surface-to-surface missile launchers at the Esfajabad base near Tehran, according to the official.
Finally, Mossad commando teams used precision-guided weapons during the assault on Iran, systems that were pre-positioned nearby Iranian surface-to-air missiles, per the official.
“As the Israeli offensive began, in coordination with Air Force strikes across Iran, the systems were activated and launched precision-guided missiles simultaneously at designated targets with high accuracy,” the official added.
U.S. denies involvement
It’s unclear what further retaliatory action Iran may have in store, though Israel’s initial strikes, which also targeted ballistic missile sites, have raised questions about the options Iran has left in its arsenal to muster a response.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Israel had acted unilaterally and that the U.S. was “not involved in strikes against Iran.” He also warned Iran not to “target U.S. interests or personnel.”
The information about Mossad’s involvement may bolster the claim that Israel acted alone, although questions remain about whether the U.S. had advanced knowledge of the strikes and if any intelligence sharing took place. Any connection to the U.S. could be used by Tehran as justification to attack American troops and assets in the region, escalating the conflict further.
Earlier this week, the U.S. pulled some diplomats and other personnel from sites in the Middle East, including the partial evacuation of its Iraqi embassy. U.S. media reports also indicated that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had authorized the voluntary departure of military families from certain Middle East locations.
The lack of U.S. military involvement in the strikes themselves limited — for Israel — the scope of Iranian targets that could be hit during Friday’s operations. For example, without American B-2 bombers and the payloads they carry, some Iranian nuclear sites such as an underground uranium enrichment site were left untouched.
The strikes occurred just days before what was supposed to be the sixth installment of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
In the aftermath of the Israeli strikes, President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a nuclear deal with the U.S.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social, his social media platform. “No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
Aftermath
The large-scale strikes, carried out early Friday morning local time, reportedly killed a series of top Iranian military officials in what appeared to be a broader effort to set back Tehran’s nuclear aspirations.
On the ground in Jerusalem, air raid sirens sounded just before 3 a.m. and emergency text alerts prompted residents to take cover, out of concern for potential Iranian retaliation that ultimately didn’t occur overnight. An Israeli Defense Forces Home Front Command-issued order to stay near shelter was later rescinded Friday morning.
Iran did dispatch a swath of some 100 slow-flying drones later Friday morning, but Israel reported it shot them down en route.
Calls for restraint
Lawmakers from both parties in Washington implored Tehran not to take action against American personnel and interests, but the tone from Republicans was significantly more bellicose.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who chairs the Intelligence Committee and is a member of the Armed Services panel, decried Iran as the “world’s worst state sponsor of terrorism” in a post on the social platform X.
“We back Israel to the hilt, all the way. And if the ayatollahs harm a single American, that will be the end of the ayatollahs,” he wrote.
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said in a post on X, “we stand firmly alongside Israel and its unilateral preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear program.” He added: “The single worst decision Iran could make now is to target American service members.”
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, issued a statement urging Israel and Iran to show restraint, and called for President Trump to renew diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis.
“Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” Reed said. “While tensions between Israel and Iran are real and complex, military aggression of this scale is never the answer.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement that Israel’s strikes will invite counterattacks.
“This risks not only U.S. negotiations with Iran, but the safety of American service members, diplomats, their families and ex-pats around the region,” she said. “I agree with President Trump’s instinct to distance the U.S. from Israel’s actions, but Iran and its proxies are unlikely to differentiate the U.S. from Israel.”
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