Key Points and Summary – Leaked intelligence documents reported by The Times reveal that Israel has been running a covert, years-long intelligence-gathering operation inside Iran, using “boots on the ground” to map the country’s nuclear and missile programs.
-This extensive infiltration, which may have started as early as 2010, provided the crucial, detailed intelligence that enabled the recent devastating and precise strikes on facilities like Natanz and Isfahan.
-The revelations suggest that Israel concluded Iran’s nuclear program was far more extensive than publicly known and was “racing ahead,” prompting the decision to launch its preemptive “Operation Rising Lion” campaign this month.
Israel Had A Plan to Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program Ready to Go
While the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran last month never evolved into a boots-on-the-ground military operation, a report published by The Times suggests that Israeli intelligence officers were smuggled into Iran years ahead of the recent bombing campaign.
According to the report, which cited leaked intelligence documents shared with Western allies and obtained by the newspaper, Israeli spies infiltrated the core of Iran’s missile and nuclear program years ahead of the recent missile exchanges.
The leaked documents revealed how Israel waged “years of covert intelligence-gathering” to assess the extent of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Tehran’s intentions, and the time it would take for the country to develop a nuclear weapon.
The conclusion? That Iran was not only racing to complete the job, but that its program was far more extensive than originally believed and spread far beyond the three main facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
“An intelligence source told The Times on Friday that Israel had been monitoring multiple locations through intelligence agents for years, with each location having ‘boots on the ground beforehand,’” the report explained.
The intelligence also revealed how Israel began preparing missile strikes on Iran as early as 2010, based on “intelligence about its accelerating weapons program.”
How Much Did Israel Know?
Details revealed in the intelligence expose the extent of Israel’s knowledge about the Iranian program, and offer insight into how both the Israeli and United States militaries were able to precisely locate key nuclear assets and destroy them using precision strikes.
Israel reportedly used intelligence gathered by boots-on-the-ground operatives in Iran to identify where centrifuges were being manufactured and installed, the location of other instruments used in the uranium enrichment process, and how all three primary nuclear sites were used.
Specifically, the intelligence described how Israeli missile strikes – which came before President Trump’s decision to deploy U.S. Air Force pilots in B-2 stealth bombers – focused on seven specific components of the Natanz enrichment site.
Intelligence officers embedded inside Iran reportedly mapped the entire layout of the Natanz facility, providing crucial information about both underground and overground buildings, piping, and other enrichment-related infrastructure.
Israel’s extensive intelligence gathering operations even went beyond Iran’s nuclear program.
Reports suggest that Israeli strikes on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) headquarters were informed by intelligence obtained via parallel covert operations that spanned years.
The shock revelations reveal why Tel Aviv felt compelled to launch strikes this year, with leaked documents suggesting that by the end of 2024, Iran had moved on from research and begun the process of “creating an advanced explosive and radiation system” – a significant milestone that could have led to nuclear capability “within weeks.”
About the Author:
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.
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Jim
July 2, 2025 at 11:38 am
Everybody knows the Netanyahu coalition wanted to attack Iran for over twenty years… it’s no surprise there was infiltration teams inside Iran, as every significant protest against the government provided fertile ground for recruiting agents and a menagerie of migrants to Iran were also recruited to form “sleeper cells.”
But the “regime change” shock & awe failed to paralyze or collapse the government.
And, that bolt has been fired… at this point Iran’s government seems stable and functioning.
Israel can’t induce regime change in Iran without the U. S. doing the heavy lifting… if even that.
What did we find out? Israel is not “invincible” behind its vaunted, layered surface to air defense system, but is vulnerable to hypersonic ballistic missiles with pinpoint accuracy.
Israel needs to get along with the other countries in the region, not entertain visions of regional hegemony based on assassination, decapitation, and chaos.
That will only further alienate Israel from its neighbors and, indeed, the Community of Nations… while some believe that doesn’t matter and Israel can “go it alone,” I suggest no man is an island and no nation is an island.
Israel has forgotten that adage… they shouldn’t.