Mossad Unveils Role in Israel’s Largest-Ever Strikes on Iran Under ‘Operation Rising Lion’

 June 14, 2025 | Jerusalem, In a rare public disclosure, Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad has released footage revealing its covert role in preparing the ground for Israel’s largest military operation against Iran to date. The unprecedented offensive, dubbed "Operation Rising Lion", targeted key Iranian military and nuclear installations early Friday, marking a significant escalation in the long-standing shadow war between the two regional powers.

Footage released by Israeli authorities shows a drone strike on what are believed to be Iranian missile launchers. The video, reportedly recorded in the days leading up to the aerial assault, captures Mossad’s clandestine operations within Iranian territory, where operatives established a covert drone base and smuggled weapons to support the broader military campaign.

According to sources cited by The Times of Israel, Mossad commandos infiltrated central Iran under the cover of darkness, collecting critical on-ground intelligence and strategically disabling radar arrays and segments of Iran’s S-300 air defense network. The operation cleared a path for over 200 Israeli aircraft to penetrate Iranian airspace in the early hours of Friday morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirming the existence and execution of the operation, said: “Operation Rising Lion was initiated to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program and neutralize its military capabilities before they could pose an existential threat to Israel.”

The coordinated airstrikes, launched from multiple directions, inflicted severe damage on several high-value Iranian targets. Among those reportedly killed were:

• General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces

• General Hossein Salami, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

• General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC’s missile program

• Two unnamed nuclear scientists involved in uranium enrichment efforts

The Israeli government claims that the strikes were a necessary measure to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability, citing intelligence that suggested Tehran was only days away from assembling sufficient fissile material for multiple warheads.

Security analysts describe the operation as a landmark event in Israeli military and intelligence history—not only for its scale but also for the level of coordination between Mossad and the Israeli Air Force. The release of covert footage, typically shrouded in secrecy, appears to be a calculated move to demonstrate both capability and resolve.

Iran has yet to release an official death toll or confirm the identities of the senior figures reportedly killed. However, the strike has provoked strong condemnation from Tehran, with threats of further retaliation escalating concerns of a wider regional conflict.

As both nations remain on high alert, international observers have urged restraint amid fears that the confrontation could spiral into full-scale war.