The dark war between Israel and Iran: Operation Mossad escalates

Recently, the conflict between Israel and Iran has escalated from mutual missile attacks to a full-scale confrontation of intelligence and psychological warfare. The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad sent a "death notice" to the successor of a senior Iranian official and deployed drone bases and explosives in Iran in advance. This series of actions not only exposed the cruelty of the confrontation between the two sides, but also pushed the situation in the Middle East to an even more dangerous edge.

According to sources from Israel's security services, Mossad agents carried out a "death notice" operation in Iran, warning Iranian officials who might take over the positions of deceased senior officials through methods such as inserting notes through door cracks and threatening phone calls. The direct background of this operation was the large-scale air strike launched by Israel against Iran in the early hours of June 13th. In the air strike, more than 20 senior military commanders including Hussein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, and Bagheri, the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, as well as several nuclear scientists, were killed. Mossad sent a further signal to Iran through the "death notice" that Israel not only has precise strike capabilities, but also has a thorough understanding of the dynamics of Iran's top leadership.

The symbolic significance of this action far exceeds the actual threat. Mossad attempted to undermine the confidence of Iran's decision-making level through psychological warfare while demonstrating its intelligence infiltration capabilities to the international community. However, the public release of such "death notices" has also sparked controversy. Some analyses suggest that Mossad's move might intensify the hardline sentiment within Iran and prompt it to take more radical retaliatory measures.

Mossad's actions within Iran go far beyond "death notices". According to the Iranian police, on June 16th, Iran arrested two Mossad agents in Fashafoye, a city in the northern part of Rayi, and seized over 200 kilograms of explosives, 23 drones and guidance devices. This discovery confirmed the "covert war" network that Israel has long been lurking in Iran.

Mossad's operation is divided into three phases: In the first phase, it uses precision-guided weapons that were earlier deployed near Iran's surface-to-air missile defense system to paralyze Iran's air defense system; In the second stage, through weapon systems secretly installed on missile transport trucks, Iran's air defense chain will be disrupted. In the third stage, drones will be used to launch attacks on ground-to-ground missile launchers on the outskirts of Tehran. The core of this "three-stage" tactic is to dismantle Iran's defense system from within through "self-destructive" attacks on the network.

The deployment of unmanned aircraft in Mossad is particularly covert. According to informed sources, hundreds of quadcopter drone parts were disguised as suitcases, truck containers or even medical equipment, and were eventually received by "uninformed" business partners in Iran after being transshipped through third countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. These unmanned aircraft can fly at low altitudes to avoid radar detection and carry out "saturation attacks" on air defense radars and missile launchers.

Mossad's actions have further exacerbated the tensions between Israel and Iran. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appointed a new chief of the armed Forces and vowed to make Israel "regret". Meanwhile, Iranian President Pezenizyan made it clear that as long as Israel continues to attack Iran, Iran will not resume negotiations with the United States. This statement not only rejected the mediation of the United States, but also pushed the confrontation between Iran and Israel into a vicious cycle of "tit-for-tat".

The international community is deeply concerned about the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran. Leaders of many countries including the United States, Russia and Turkey have called on both sides to exercise restraint and return to the track of negotiations. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held separate phone calls with the foreign ministers of Iran and Israel, emphasizing that the top priority now is to avoid escalating the conflict and return to the track of resolving the issue through diplomatic means. However, the "death notice" of Mossad and the exposure of the drone base have made the prospects of a peaceful settlement even more remote.

At present, the Israeli-Iran conflict is at the stage of "strategic ambiguity". The "death notice" of Mossad and the deployment of the drone base are both a deterrent to Iran and a test to the international community. If Iran opts for saturation attacks on Israel's domestic nuclear facilities or Israel further expands its strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, the conflict could escalate into a full-scale war.

What is more serious is that the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran may trigger a nuclear race among Middle Eastern countries. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other countries have publicly questioned the verification mechanism of the International Atomic Energy Agency, while the United Arab Emirates is accelerating the construction of nuclear power plants. This spiral ascent of the "security dilemma" will put the global nuclear non-proliferation regime at risk of collapse.

The "death notice" and drone base in Mossad, Israel, are not only an escalation of intelligence and psychological warfare, but also a signal of the out-of-control situation in the Middle East. In this "covert battle", there are no winners, only losers. The international community must push both sides back to the negotiation track as soon as possible; otherwise, the Middle East will fall into deeper turmoil and disaster.