Gilan, Iran – The Israeli army used a whole lot of fighter jets, armed drones and refuelling planes to assault Iran throughout its 12-day struggle backed by the USA, nevertheless it 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 places inside Iran.
One grainy video confirmed Mossad operatives, camouflaged and sporting tactical gear together with night-vision goggles, crouched in what appeared like desert terrain, deploying weapons that aimed to destroy Iran’s air defence techniques to assist pave the way in which 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 seemed to be Spike missiles – comparatively small, precision-guided anti-armour missiles that may be programmed to fly to targets which can be out of their line of sight.
Iranian authorities additionally confirmed using the weapons, with state media displaying pictures of remnants of customised Spike missile launchers that have been found in a single open space. They mentioned the weapons have been geared up with “internet-based automation and remote-controlled techniques” and have 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 car together with his spouse and bodyguards. Iranian authorities on the time confirmed that the assassination was carried out utilizing remote-controlled and synthetic intelligence-guided gear, with Israeli media reporting {that a} one-tonne gun was smuggled into Iran in items 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 loss of life 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 struggle to overwhelm Iranian defences as a part of its multipronged assault operations.
Iranian media reported all through the struggle that air defences throughout the nation have 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 have been in hitting their targets can’t be corroborated by Al Jazeera.
The smaller drones attracted numerous 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 opportunity of regime change.
Quickly, authorities discovered pick-up vans with customised cargo beds that have been made to accommodate small, pre-programmed drones that they mentioned could possibly be pushed near their supposed targets earlier than launching. Such a method has been used efficiently elsewhere as properly, together with in 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 4 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 automobiles to search for any suspicious vans 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 tens of millions travelled after fleeing the capital, which usually stopped and searched pick-up vans with lined cargo beds.
After what the Israelis mentioned have been years of preparations, their operatives seem to have been capable of arrange small manufacturing strains of the unmanned automobiles inside Iran.
One such operation was found in Shahr-e Rey in southern Tehran, the place state media mentioned 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 supposed 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 comparable operation, through which six Iranian “Mossad brokers” have been assembling quadcopters with small bombs connected below them, in addition to bombs with timers, grenades and different weapons. There have been additionally stories of automobiles planted with explosives, however there was no official affirmation by Iranian authorities.
Among the arrested suspects have been proven confessing on state tv with their arms sure 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 mentioned he tried to movie air defences for the Mossad from rooftops.
‘We’re all below surveillance’
The Israeli army’s chief of workers, 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 in the beginning of the operation on the primary night time or different potential operations.
Iranian officers haven’t immediately 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 up to now executed a minimum of six individuals accused of collaborating because the begin of the struggle.
Israeli intelligence operations inside Iran are believed to have been a serious contributor to the success of the June 13 shock assaults that began the struggle, which killed numerous prime army commanders and nuclear scientists whereas additionally incapacitating some air defences and hitting missile launch websites in an effort to restrict Iran’s retaliation.
Big cyberattacks launched by pro-Israel hacking teams additionally briefly took down two of the nation’s largest banks, in addition to the nation’s largest cryptocurrency trade.
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 below surveillance” by Mossad via cell phones and different communications units.
Hajizadeh, who was killed whereas holding a gathering with a number of different prime aerospace commanders in an underground bunker in or round Tehran, urged others to train warning and switch off and periodically substitute their cell phones in the course of the speech.
As a part of their response to the Israeli offensive, Iranian authorities additionally lower off web entry, at one level choking off 97 p.c of the huge nation’s connectivity, in keeping with NetBlocks web observatory. It was some of the complete web blackouts ever imposed in Iran – and certain wherever else on this planet.
The restrictions imposed in the course of the struggle have been principally lifted by Thursday, two days after a ceasefire introduced by Trump took impact.