Former Mossad chief says Israel deliberately released footage of agents in Iran to prompt mass arrests and make its operatives harder to identify

Former Mossad chief David Barnea said Israel deliberately released footage of its agents operating inside Iran during the 12-day war, intending to prompt mass arrests by Iranian security forces and make actual Israeli operatives harder to identify.

Barnea said Iranian authorities detained approximately 21,000 people on the conflict’s second day. He said the confusion that followed ultimately led to their release.

He also said several people executed in Iran for supposedly working with Mossad had no connection to the agency, while 99.9% of its actual agents remained undetected. Some of those operatives, he added, continue to live in Tehran.