Iran is working to tighten its defense relationship with Russia and to continue to supply it with advanced weaponry, Mossad chief David Barnea warned on Thursday.
Russia has made extensive use of Iranian drones in attacks against civilian targets in Ukraine in recent months.
“We warn against Iran’s future intentions, which they are trying to keep secret, to deepen and expand the supply of advanced weapons to Russia, to expand the uranium enrichment project and to intensify their attacks against friendly Muslim countries in the region,” Barnea said during a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
"We are warning about Iran's future intentions, which they are trying to keep secret, to deepen and expand the supply of advanced weapons to Russia, to expand the uranium enrichment project and to intensify their attacks against friendly Muslim countries in the region."
David Barnea
During the ceremony, Barnea and President Isaac Herzog presented citations to the Mossad’s top agents for various operations in the last year.
Mossad identifies dangerous Iranian attempts to carry out terrorist attacks
At the beginning of his speech, Barnea said that in recent months the intelligence agency has identified dangerous attempts by Iran to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel and other countries in the region.
“We are not surprised by the boldness of the Iranian regime. While one of its arms is sending Iranian diplomats to Vienna to negotiate an agreement with world powers, a second arm sends Iranian terrorists to kill innocent people around the world just because they are Israelis or Jews,” he said.
Barnea said that the Mossad warned months ago that Iran was planning to help Russia, and indeed weapons have made their way to the Russian military.
“We put a spotlight on the supply of weapons to Russia, despite the lies heard from Iran,” he said. “The Iranian lies are not new to us. There are elements in the West who call for signing an agreement with Iran while blatantly ignoring the Iranian lies contained within the agreement itself.”
Barnea said that the only intelligence agency not surprised by what Iran has done was the Mossad.
“This is not only because of our intelligence but also because of our in-depth knowledge of Iran’s ongoing fraudulent attempts,” he said. “The Iranians will continue to pretend to be a normal country, while at the same time implementing a policy of destruction, terrorism and brutal actions against their citizens, just for the survival of the regime.”
“Is this the country with which the free world wants to sign some kind of agreement?” Barnea asked.
Mentioning the ongoing protests against the Iranian regime, Barnea said that the Mossad has proof that the demonstrations and general national unrest are “challenging” the regime.”
“We clearly see the regime, supposedly strong, as surprised and scared. We feel clearly the connection to the Iranian people. We remember well Iran and Israel as true partners with mutual appreciation and I hope it will still be possible to return to this, not tomorrow and not in a year. We cannot tell exactly when at the moment, but we can already see the beginnings of change in light of the strong undercurrents there,” he said.