The Mossad, the IDF and the Shin Bet on Monday publicly exposed for the first time a covert terror apparatus operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, aimed at targeting senior Israeli officials and strategic infrastructure worldwide.
In a joint statement, they said the exposure comes “against the backdrop of a series of foiled attacks carried out by the Air Force during Operation Roaring Lion, which led to the elimination of senior figures and key operatives in the covert attack network, alongside intensive activity by the Mossad and its partners in security and law enforcement agencies worldwide, culminating in widespread arrests and interrogations of terror cell members operating on behalf of the network across the globe.”
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Majid Khademi, head of the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence organization, was killed last month in an IDF strike
The statement detailed that several weeks ago authorities in Azerbaijan thwarted “a terrorist infrastructure that had advanced attempts to strike a strategic target — the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline running through Georgia and Turkey — as well as several Jewish targets and institutions in the country, including the Israeli Embassy, the synagogue in Baku and leaders of the Jewish community.
“Members of the operational cell were arrested by Azerbaijani authorities in possession of explosive drones and fragmentation devices that had been smuggled into the country. In order to carry out their plans, the cell conducted intelligence-gathering on the targets using various methods, including physical surveillance and photography — all under the direction of their handlers, directly from Iran. This exposure, alongside extensive intelligence investigations and additional operational activity on the ground, led to the uncovering of the covert terror mechanism established within the Revolutionary Guards, as well as its chain of command and control.”
The statement added that “the head of the covert attack apparatus was Rahman Moghaddam, who also served as head of the Special Operations Division (4000) within the IRGC Intelligence Organization, and was targeted by the Air Force at the start of Operation Roaring Lion. Division 4000 is responsible for advancing and directing terrorist activity outside Iran’s borders against Israeli and Western targets, as well as attempts to smuggle advanced weapons into Israeli territory. All of this was carried out under the direction and with the knowledge of senior IRGC official Majid Khademi, head of the Intelligence Organization, who was also eliminated by the IDF during Roaring Lion.”
It noted that Khademi, in his role “in recent years advanced the network’s global terror efforts. This activity included recruiting and training operatives in Iran and abroad to carry out intelligence-gathering missions targeting senior Israeli political figures and members of Israel’s security establishment, as well as military sites (Israeli and Western), ports and Israeli vessels in Israel and around the world.
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Foiled terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Baku
(Photo: Azerbaijan’s State Security Service)
“Under Moghaddam’s command, a key operative named Mohsen Souri served as a central and leading operator in the covert attack network, alongside his role as a senior figure in Division 4000. Souri was also eliminated during the war in an Air Force strike guided by intelligence from the Mossad and Shin Bet, which identified the emergency facility where he was staying alongside other IRGC personnel. As part of his operational activity — similar to other operatives in the network — he played a significant role in activities outside Iran and participated in numerous operational cycles during which he met with local terror cells and directed them in carrying out missions on the ground.”
In addition to Souri, other IRGC officers operated in Europe, the Middle East and Azerbaijan, including Mehdi Yekeh-Dehghan, known as ‘the Doctor,’ "who led terror efforts in Azerbaijan. Dehghan has been known since January, following the arrest of an operational network in Turkey that, under his direction, worked to smuggle explosive drones from Iran to Turkey and onward to Cyprus, while conducting intelligence-gathering on the U.S. Air Force’s Incirlik base in Adana.”
The statement also noted that “surveillance missions targeting Western bases have been exposed in the past, for example during Operation Rising Lion, when Azerbaijani nationals were arrested on suspicion of gathering intelligence on Israeli targets and military bases in Cyprus and Crete.”
The IDF, Shin Bet and Mossad said in a joint statement that “in recent years, the Iranian regime has been working through its various security and intelligence bodies to advance dozens of terror plots against Israeli, Jewish and Western targets. Operation Roaring Lion has led to a further escalation in Iranian aggression in the region, including efforts to expand its capabilities. Within this framework, it is known that operatives in the network also cooperate with additional elements of the so-called ‘axis,’ such as pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, to carry out attack plans.
“Despite Iran’s strategy of viewing terror activity as a complementary arm to its offensive military efforts against Israel, the disruption of terror infrastructures has challenged its ability to use this tool effectively in line with its ambitions. The exposure of the attack mechanisms operated by the Iranian regime repeatedly demonstrates its clear failure to create plausible deniability, and reflects the collapse of its method of operating — which seeks to carry out terror activity detached from Iran in order to avoid the diplomatic, legal and economic consequences it may otherwise face.”