{"id":480036,"date":"2026-06-06T23:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T23:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/480036\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T23:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T23:50:14","slug":"iranian-regime-will-fall-sooner-or-later-but-us-stopped-war-too-early-ex-mossad-agent-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/480036\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian regime will fall sooner or later, but US stopped war too early, ex-Mossad agent says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A plan developed by Israel and the Mossad intelligence agency to topple the Iranian regime could still succeed if given time, but it has not been carried out to completion due to the United States\u2019 decision in April to halt the war against the Islamic Republic, a former senior Mossad official told Channel 12 on Saturday. In any event, he insisted, the regime will fall sooner or later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t try all the way \u2014 we were stopped along the way,\u201d said the ex-Mossad official, identified only as \u201cAleph,\u201d who retired last year. \u201cThis is a multi-stage plan that has been prepared over time and has been paused for the time being. In this war, we went out with a partner, a strategic power that at some point stopped the fighting, but these stages started and developed, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/liveblog_entry\/mossad-reportedly-gave-kurds-arms-seized-from-hamas-hezbollah-to-use-against-iranian-regime\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">including the use of Kurdish partners,<\/a> with the goal of replacing the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Channel 12, Aleph served in the Mossad for almost 30 years, rising to senior leadership, until he retired last year when realizing he would not be considered for its top position. In December, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/days-into-role-new-mossad-chief-dismisses-highly-experienced-deputy-director\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">his military secretary, Roman Gofman<\/a>, as the new Mossad director to replace David Barnea. Gofman entered his role on Tuesday, after months of legal challenges and controversies.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/liveblog_entry\/report-before-war-top-us-officials-told-trump-that-netanyahus-regime-change-plan-was-bullshit-farcical\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Times report<\/a> according to which CIA Director John Ratcliffe and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Israel\u2019s plan for toppling the Iranian regime as \u201cfarcical\u201d and as \u201cbullshit,\u201d after Netanyahu and Barnea presented it to US President Donald Trump, Aleph pointed out that the US officials did not have his 28 years of experience working in the Mossad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a pity that they don\u2019t have that experience, but [the plan] was certainly not bullshit and not farcical,\u201d he stressed. \u201cIn the Mossad, imagination becomes reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel&#8217;s Daily Edition<br \/>\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/terms\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Aleph expressed hope that the next stages of the operational plan would be authorized at some point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA plan like this is a long-term plan that can take a long time, and you have to persevere in all its stages,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26155680421126.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3836806\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26155680421126-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tA woman holds up an Iranian flag in front of a banner showing a portrait of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during a street festival celebrating the Muslim Shiite holiday of Eid al-Ghadir in Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2026. (AP\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n<p>Despite the plan not being carried out to fruition, the former Mossad official appeared to believe that the conditions had been created so that eventually the regime would lose power.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it will fall in six months or in three years, I cannot predict, but there is no doubt that this regime will fall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In the interview, Aleph described how, during the twelve-day war against the Islamic Republic in June 2025, the Mossad operated in Iran in ways that would have been unthinkable even a few years before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was an operational military unit working according to advanced operational training, with weapons, night vision devices, and the ability to guide missiles, inside Iran,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is something we couldn\u2019t have seen six years ago. This is the great revolution that has taken place in the Mossad [under Barnea].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/06\/HJ0FflqXIAA9NSY.jpeg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3835460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/HJ0FflqXIAA9NSY-640x400.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tRoman Gofman (left) takes over the Mossad spy agency from David Barnea (right) at a ceremony with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, June 2, 2026. (Via X).<\/p>\n<p>According to Aleph, the Mossad stepped up recruitment, training, and trust in agents from enemy countries in recent years, relying on them to carry out operations that previously would have been entrusted only to Israeli agents.<\/p>\n<p>Agents from an enemy country may decide to work for Israel for several reasons, including personal gains or fear of personal secrets like extra-marital affairs being exposed.<\/p>\n<p>In Iran, many are motivated by their opposition to the regime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany of them hate the regime, hate what is being imposed on them, hate what is happening to their daughters and their wives,\u201d Aleph said. \u201cFor some, it\u2019s a sense of revenge for things that happened to their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aleph did not deny that Iranians might have been brought to Israel for training.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25260606958119.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3649046\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25260606958119-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tSupporters of Lebanon\u2019s Hezbollah group hold candles and posters with Arabic writing that reads \u201cOur eyes, your eyes,\u201d during a gathering in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, to mark the one-year anniversary of the pager attack carried out by Israel that exploded thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah. (AP Photo\/Hassan Ammar)<\/p>\n<p>Asked about whether Israel knows anything about the condition of the new Iranian supreme leader, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/statement-by-irans-leader-says-us-israel-hit-by-decisive-blow-amid-mixed-signals-on-talks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei,<\/a>\u00a0the official said he would be \u201cvery surprised if Israel did not know precisely what his situation is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei has not been seen or heard in public since being wounded in strikes that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tDiscover Israel&#8217;s most beloved poet\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"200\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-5-Houses-of-Lea-Goldberg-Poster-1-200x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-square size-square wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>She died more than four decades ago, but Leah Goldberg remains a magnetic and enigmatic figure: Israel\u2019s most beloved poet, a powerful woman who lived with her mother and never married, who reinvented herself from the ashes of World War I through her magical writing.<\/p>\n<p>You can screen &#8216;The Five Houses of Leah Goldberg&#8217; June 4-11.\u00a0 Join The Times of Israel Community today to support our work and watch this and other outstanding documentary films in our DocuNation series.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=module&amp;utm_campaign=docu_promo&amp;utm_term=5_houses&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn crm-post-module__btn-desktop\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tI want to see it\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=module&amp;utm_campaign=docu_promo&amp;utm_term=5_houses&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn crm-post-module__btn-mobile\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tI want to see it\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"crm_under_btn_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-in?RedirectTo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesofisrael.com%2Firanian-regime-could-still-fall-but-us-stopped-war-too-early-ex-mossad-agent-says%2F\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Already a member? 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But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n<p>For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, <br \/>David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=dedicated&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end_counter&amp;utm_content=1964F6\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn crm-post-module__btn-desktop\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-up?utm_campaign=dedicated&amp;utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=article_end_counter&amp;utm_content=1964F6\" class=\"crm-post-module__btn crm-post-module__btn-mobile\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"crm_under_btn_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/crm.timesofisrael.com\/sign-in?RedirectTo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesofisrael.com%2Firanian-regime-could-still-fall-but-us-stopped-war-too-early-ex-mossad-agent-says%2F\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A plan developed by Israel and the Mossad intelligence agency to topple the Iranian regime could still succeed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[99445,190507,16098,54,42,222538,159370,16096,43,190784,99765,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-480036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-2025-israel-iran-war","tag-2026-us-israel-war-with-iran","tag-david-barnea","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-hezbollah-pager-explosions","tag-mojtaba-khamenei","tag-mossad","tag-news","tag-october-7-hamas-atrocities","tag-roman-gofman","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}