Former Mossad chief David "Dadi" Barnea has disclosed that Israeli agents still operate in Iran, emphasising that nearly all of them had never been exposed.
Barnea made the revelation at the Priority Summit conference, where he spoke on Operation Rising Lion in 2025, Israel's campaign against Iranian nuclear and military targets.
He recalled Mossad deliberately released a video showing its activities inside Iran to confuse the security services and make it harder to identify real Israeli operatives.
Barnea personally approved every agent deployed for the task to ensure their reliability and ability to maintain secrecy: "You have to sign off that this secret won’t leak."
The ex-chief said while dozens of operatives had been deployed inside Iran weeks before the operation, Israeli pilots didn’t know they were going to attack when they were called to their squadrons.
Barnea insisted that some of those arrested or executed in Iran on spy allegations were never associated with the Mossad, adding that agents who participated in the mission remain in Iran.
"They’re there in Tehran, still living their good lives, knowing in their hearts that they served a noble purpose," Ynet News quoted him as saying.
The intelligence officer also commented on the September 2024 operation, which resulted in the simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers used by members of Hezbollah.
Ex-Mossad chief confirms Israeli agents remain active in Iran