Gilan, Iran – The Israeli navy used a whole bunch of fighter jets, armed drones and refuelling planes to assault Iran throughout its 12-day war backed by the United States, but it surely was additionally closely assisted by operations launched from deep inside Iranian soil.
Simply hours after the Israeli military and Mossad spy company began their assaults earlier than daybreak on June 13, they launched footage that appeared to have been recorded at night time from undisclosed areas inside Iran.
One grainy video confirmed Mossad operatives, camouflaged and carrying tactical gear together with night-vision goggles, crouched in what regarded like desert terrain, deploying weapons that aimed to destroy Iran’s air defence methods to assist pave the best way for incoming assault plane.
Others confirmed projectiles, with mounted cameras, descending to slam into Iranian missile defence batteries, in addition to ballistic missile platforms. The projectiles gave the impression to be Spike missiles – comparatively small, precision-guided anti-armour missiles that may be programmed to fly to targets which are out of their line of sight.
Iranian authorities additionally confirmed the usage of the weapons, with state media exhibiting photographs of remnants of customised Spike missile launchers that had been found in a single open space. They stated the weapons had been outfitted with “internet-based automation and remote-controlled methods” and had been operated by “terrorist Mossad brokers”.
The transfer partly echoed an Israeli operation in November 2020 that killed Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior determine in Iran’s nuclear programme, who was gunned down in a metropolis close to Tehran whereas shifting in a automobile along with his spouse and bodyguards. Iranian authorities on the time confirmed that the assassination was carried out utilizing remote-controlled and synthetic intelligence-guided tools, with Israeli media reporting {that a} one-tonne gun was smuggled into Iran in pieces by Mossad and mounted on the again of a pick-up truck, which exploded after Fakhrizadeh was killed.
Iran executed three males on Wednesday morning within the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan, accused of being concerned in Fakhrizadeh’s demise and different assassinations.
Drone manufacturing inside Iran
Israel additionally seems to have used numerous explosives-laden small drones and quadcopters in the course of the 12-day conflict to overwhelm Iranian defences as a part of its multipronged assault operations.
Iranian media reported all through the conflict that air defences throughout the nation had been activated to counter the small drones, in addition to bigger military-grade counterparts just like the Hermes 900, a number of of which Iran claimed to have shot down. Nevertheless, the precise variety of drones launched and the way profitable they had been in hitting their targets can’t be corroborated by Al Jazeera.
The smaller drones attracted lots of consideration and compelled authorities to muster large-scale search operations to neutralise them, as Israeli warplanes dropped extra bombs throughout the nation and US President Donald Trump briefly rhetorically backed the possibility of regime change.
Quickly, authorities discovered pick-up vehicles with customised cargo beds that had been made to accommodate small, pre-programmed drones that they stated may very well be pushed near their meant targets earlier than launching. Such a technique has been used efficiently elsewhere as nicely, together with at the beginning of June when Ukraine managed to destroy as a lot as a 3rd of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet on the tarmac of four airfields deep inside Russian territory.
Iranian authorities organised search events, significantly at night time, consisting of safety forces who patrolled the streets on bikes or autos to search for any suspicious vehicles or motion. Armed and masked safety forces additionally arrange numerous roadblocks and checkpoints in sprawling Tehran and throughout the nation, together with in northern provinces the place millions travelled after fleeing the capital, which generally stopped and searched pick-up vehicles with lined cargo beds.
After what the Israelis stated had been years of preparations, their operatives seem to have been in a position to arrange small manufacturing strains of the unmanned autos inside Iran.
One such operation was found in Shahr-e Rey in southern Tehran, the place state media stated a three-storey constructing was devoted to churning out drones, home made bombs and a big quantity of explosives.
Safety forces situated a clandestine drone-manufacturing website in Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran.
The three flooring constructing, was utilized by Israeli brokers to assemble and retailer UAVs meant for terrorists operations.
Officers additionally discovered home made bombs and over 200 kg of explosives. pic.twitter.com/wrZz1vc12x— Tasnim Information Company (@Tasnimnews_EN) June 15, 2025
State tv additionally confirmed one other related operation, during which six Iranian “Mossad brokers” had been assembling quadcopters with small bombs hooked up underneath them, in addition to bombs with timers, grenades and different weapons. There have been additionally experiences of autos planted with explosives, however there was no official affirmation by Iranian authorities.
A number of the arrested suspects had been proven confessing on state tv with their palms certain and their eyes lined. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohsen-Ejei and Tehran’s public prosecutor Ali Salehi personally interrogated one unnamed suspect on state tv, who stated he tried to movie air defences for the Mossad from rooftops.
‘We’re all underneath surveillance’
The Israeli navy’s chief of employees, Eyal Zamir, confirmed in a video assertion on Wednesday that commando forces “operated covertly deep in enemy territory and carried out operations that granted us operational freedom of motion”. He didn’t say whether or not he was referring to the commandos proven at the beginning of the operation on the primary night time or different potential operations.
Iranian officers haven’t instantly commented on claimed Israeli commando operations from inside Iranian territory.
However authorities proceed to announce dozens of arrests throughout Iran in relation to collaboration with Israel and the US, and have to date executed at least six people accused of collaborating because the begin of the conflict.
Israeli intelligence operations inside Iran are believed to have been a significant contributor to the success of the June 13 shock assaults that began the conflict, which killed numerous prime navy commanders and nuclear scientists whereas additionally incapacitating some air defences and hitting missile launch websites in an effort to restrict Iran’s retaliation.
Enormous cyberattacks launched by pro-Israel hacking teams additionally quickly took down two of the nation’s largest banks, in addition to the nation’s largest cryptocurrency alternate.
An undated video circulated by state-linked media this week confirmed Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the assassinated head of the crucial aerospace division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), saying throughout a speech that “we’re all underneath surveillance” by Mossad by cell phones and different communications units.
Hajizadeh, who was killed whereas holding a gathering with a bunch of other top aerospace commanders in an underground bunker in or round Tehran, urged others to train warning and switch off and periodically exchange their cell phones in the course of the speech.
As a part of their response to the Israeli offensive, Iranian authorities additionally minimize off web entry, at one level choking off 97 % of the huge nation’s connectivity, based on NetBlocks web observatory. It was one of the complete internet blackouts ever imposed in Iran – and certain wherever else on this planet.
The restrictions imposed in the course of the conflict had been largely lifted by Thursday, two days after a ceasefire introduced by Trump took impact.