Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen disclosed that the 2018 operation to seize Iran's nuclear archive was rehearsed in Africa before it was executed in Tehran, according to his interview. Cohen said the intelligence coup spurred President Trump to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Former Mossad Director Yossi Cohen revealed in an interview published Thursday that the agency's landmark 2018 raid on Iran's secret nuclear archive in Tehran was first rehearsed in full on African soil before operatives executed it in Iran's capital. Cohen described the rehearsal as critical to the operation's flawless execution, which extracted thousands of documents and compact discs from a heavily guarded warehouse in the Shahryar district of Tehran.
The intelligence trove, publicly unveiled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the time, documented Iran's past efforts to design a nuclear weapon and maintain a knowledge base for future development. Cohen stated that the success of the raid — and the undeniable evidence of Iranian deception — was the primary catalyst for President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018.
Cohen's disclosure offers a rare glimpse inside one of Israel's most celebrated intelligence operations, which remains a cornerstone of Israeli security credibility regarding the Iranian nuclear threat. The former spy chief did not elaborate on the location or specific nature of the African drill, but his account reinforces the meticulous planning that characterized the Mossad's most famous covert action against Iran.
- DevelopingTrump administration conducts secret talks with Tehran on new nuclear deal
- DevelopingFormer Mossad official: Iran building new strategic propaganda, cyber capabilities
- StrongIran claims complex intelligence plan targeted US aircraft at Bahrain and Kuwait bases
- StrongGSS chief: Israel exploited ceasefire to expand intelligence target bank inside Iran
Source and signal
A single-sourced dispatch is never rated Confirmed or Strong. Its Signal strengthens only when a second, independent source corroborates it.
- Internal intake