i24 News – Israel disrupted Iran’s intelligence network and played an important role in the recently failed Iranian attacks against Israelis, former Iranian Vice President Muhammad Ali Abtahi told The New York Times on Wednesday.
“The security breaches in Iran and the scale of Israeli operations have completely undermined our most powerful intelligence organization,” he told the daily.
“The strength of our security capabilities has always been the foundation of the Islamic Republic and it was damaged last year. Israeli spies hit Iran hard. In Tehran, a few big names paid the price,” he continued, explaining that Iran is now looking for a new strategy.
In response to Iran’s failed intelligence functions, Hussein Taeb, the intelligence commander of the Revolutionary Guards, was removed from his post last week after failing to hit Israeli targets in Turkey, the daily reported.
Israel and Turkey recently strengthened their cooperation to thwart attacks against Israeli tourists visiting Istanbul, with the arrest of ten members of an Iranian cell.
In general, a distrust currently characterizes the mood among Iranian officials after Iran secretly arrested Brigadier General Ali Nasiri on the suspicion of spying for Israel, The New York Times revealed.
His arrest came two months after a dozen employees of Iran’s Defense Ministry missile development program were arrested on suspicion of leaking classified military information to Israel, including missile design mock-ups.
It was further reported that the three steel mills damaged in a cyberattack on Tuesday are the main suppliers of the Revolutionary Guards.
Last week, a suspected Iranian cyberattack activated Israel’s warning siren system, triggering false alarms in several neighborhoods in Yerushalayim and the southern city of Eilat.
