Israel’s deadly infiltration of Iran’s internal geography – capped by coordinated assassinations and drone strikes – has triggered a sweeping internal crackdown as Tehran races to reclaim control.

By Fereshteh SADEGHI

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In the early hours of 13 June, Israel launched a ferocious aerial assault across Iran, killing a dozen senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), at least six nuclear scientists, and striking the key nuclear facilities of Natanz and Khondab. Multiple Iranian military installations were also hit over a 12-hour period.

The scale and coordination of the strikes prompted what one Iranian official described as “a moment of national trauma.” The targeting of both military and nuclear infrastructure sent a chilling message: Tel Aviv knew exactly where and when to hit.

Shock and awe

The severity of the assault – and the deaths of two of Iran’s highest-ranking officers, army chief of the General Staff brigadier general Mohammad Bagheri alongside his wife and daughter, and IRGC commander Hossein Salami – shocked the Iranian public and political establishment.

The most alarming aspect was what initially seemed like a complete failure of Iran’s air defense systems to intercept Israeli jets and missiles. Observers speculated that either a large‑scale cyber attack had incapacitated Iran’s air defense, the systems had been systematically targeted, or – as subsequent reporting revealed – Mossad had clandestinely smuggled small armed drones and explosive charges into Iran, placing them near radars and missile batteries to disable air defense systems from within.

Iranian authorities have yet to provide a full explanation. Defense systems reportedly began intercepting projectiles only half a day later.

After two days of uninterrupted strikes using drones – and projectiles fired from fighter jets outside Iran – the Israeli army released a video showing alleged Iranian collaborators setting up launchers. The footage immediately raised alarm bells about the presence of Mossad agents and mercenaries operating within Iran’s borders.

Internal launch points

The method of attack pointed to a grim realization: Much of Israel’s firepower and drones were launched from within Iranian territory by local collaborators and agents – very similar to events witnessed just two weeks ago inside Russia’s borders when Ukraine, reportedly backed by British and other western military intelligence, launched drone attacks on Russian airbases.

The Israeli playbook appeared to be a replica of the Ukrainian one, and its perpetrators likely the same intelligence agencies.

Iranian authorities discovered that the suicide drones and quadcopters used in the assassinations of high-profile figures – from military commanders to nuclear scientists – were small but deadly, and often launched using shoulder-fired or ground-based systems.

Security services began receiving tips about suspicious pickups and cargo trucks spotted near targeted areas. One widely circulated video, taken by a civilian and broadcast on social media, showed a missile being launched from the ground in a residential area. This convinced Iranian intelligence that professional Mossad operatives and well-organized local sleeper cells were conducting attacks from within.

In response, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence issued a public call urging citizens to be vigilant and report suspicious individuals, homes, mini-trucks, and pickups, confirming for the first time that “vehicles are being used to launch drones and guide missiles.”

Citizen vigilance and arrests

The ministry’s statement triggered widespread public mobilization. Volunteer groups erected checkpoints in Lorestan and Fars provinces, inspecting mini-trucks and pickups.

As of 15 June, Iran’s Basij volunteer paramilitary units had begun patrolling city streets at night.

Intelligence and police officials reported a surge in civilian tips, which led to several significant discoveries. In Lorestan, authorities seized explosive-laden drones from a villa owned by a prominent neurologist and surgeon near Khorramabad. A separate video from the same province showed citizens arresting a man accused of espionage.

On 14 June, following attacks that set ablaze a fuel depot in Shahran and an oil depot in southern Tehran, law enforcement agents raided a workshop in Shahr-e Rey. There, they uncovered 200 kilograms of explosives, 23 drones and launchers, remote control systems, and a blue Nissan pickup truck – the same model used in the 2020 assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Additional drone assembly workshops were found in Isfahan and Karaj, both of which had come under Israeli attack.

The Khorasan newspaper later reported that security forces discovered internet-controlled anti-tank Spike missile launchers used to distract Iranian air defenses, allowing Israeli jets to penetrate Iranian airspace. 

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Israel’s shift to terror bombings

With drone operations exposed and thwarted, Israeli agents reverted to their tried-and-tested tactic of car bombings – long a hallmark of Tel Aviv’s covert assassinations across West Asia.

On 15 June, a massive car bomb detonated in central Tehran, wounding civilians and killing three senior IRGC intelligence officers, including Mohammad Kazemi, head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization.

Hours later, a second bomb exploded near Mashhad airport, damaging critical infrastructure close to the shrine of the eighth Shia Imam, Ali al-Ridha. That same day, a third device was found and defused in a park in Shahr-e Rey.

The collaborator network

Israel’s Mossad has long cultivated sleeper cells inside Iran for missions involving sabotage, targeted killings, espionage, and terror. The 2020 assassination of senior nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh – executed with the help of a remote-controlled weapon and insider intelligence – marked one of the earliest and most devastating examples of this deep infiltration.

One of the most humiliating episodes was the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in July 2024. Haniyeh, who was visiting Tehran at the invitation of the Iranian government to attend its presidential inauguration, was killed by a precision-guided missile that struck his room in a state guesthouse. The brazenness of the strike – and its execution inside the heart of the Islamic Republic – sent shockwaves through regional resistance movements.

Former National Security advisor Ali Shamkhani was also killed in a similar fashion on 13 June, when two projectiles simultaneously struck his home from different directions. The pattern is clear: Tel Aviv’s operations rely not just on advanced weapons, but on deep coordination with operatives embedded in different parts of Iran.

On 14 June, the Wall Street Journal published an exposé titled “How Israel’s Mossad smuggled drone parts to attack Iran from within,” detailing how hundreds of quadcopter components and munitions were smuggled into Iran via suitcases, trucks, and shipping containers.

The report – per usual, citing “unnamed sources” – claimed Mossad agents stationed themselves near air defense and missile sites, disabling Iran’s aerial response as the Israeli assault began. While the WSJ did not identify Iranian collaborators, Tehran believes the culprits are overwhelmingly affiliated with the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) organization – a designated terrorist group exiled for over 40 years and known for its close cooperation with former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Israel, and western states.

Iranian officials have publicly named the MEK as the prime suspect in aiding Mossad, citing their long-standing record of treachery against the Iranian nation, both during the 1979 Islamic Revolution in which MEK launched assassinations against Iran’s new officials, and during the eight-year Iran–Iraq war in which they openly aided the enemy against Iranian soldiers..

Tehran retaliates

Five days into the Israeli assault, Iran’s judiciary announced that over 30 individuals had been arrested for collaborating with Mossad or the Israeli military.

The Supreme National Security Council followed with a blunt warning: Aiding the occupation state or participating in terrorism will incur severe punishment. Parliament promptly passed a law to double the penalties for collaboration with enemy states.

Tehran now fully acknowledges the scale of infiltration. Mossad operatives and their Iranian collaborators had conducted reconnaissance, assembled drones, executed assassinations, and aided Israeli targeting.

This wake-up call comes at a steep cost. In the face of a coordinated war by the occupation state, Iran can no longer afford blind spots in its security apparatus.

The next phase demands an overhaul of intelligence protocols and the immediate and meticulous dismantling of Mossad’s local networks. The collaborators within must now face the consequences.

Original article: thecradle.co