Iranian Intelligence Official: Netanyahu Ordered Investigation of All Israeli Officials' Connections to Iran

An Iranian senior intelligence official reacted on Wednesday, December 19, to recent statements by Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the 'periodic inspections of Israeli intelligence agents' in Iran, calling it a 'delusion.' The Israeli Prime Minister stated on December 17 that Israeli agents periodically visit Iran to monitor its nuclear program. According to ISNA, the Director General of Counter-Espionage at Iran's Ministry of Intelligence responded to Netanyahu's remarks, labeling them as 'storytelling,' claiming that Netanyahu is under severe internal and external pressure due to the exposure of an Israeli minister's espionage for the Islamic Republic of Iran and the extensive infiltration of Iranian intelligence agencies within the Israeli intelligence services. The Iranian intelligence official also alleged that Netanyahu recently instructed the Shabak (internal security service) to investigate all political, security officials, and Knesset members regarding their connections with the intelligence services of the Islamic Republic of Iran over the next six months, stating that this order reflects realities that need no explanation. Netanyahu had mentioned that Israel is working globally to combat Iran's nuclear program, and Israeli operatives conduct 'periodic inspections' of Iran to update their information. The reference made by the Iranian counter-espionage chief to Dr. Gonen Segev, a former Israeli minister, relates to his return to Israel from an African country in spring 2018 amid suspicions of espionage for Iran. Following investigations by the Israeli internal security service, Segev was charged in a Jerusalem court on July 5, and it appears that the main hearings of his trial have been postponed to the coming months. Israeli media reported that Dr. Segev, who served as a minister 23 years ago and lived in Nigeria for over two decades, told his interrogators that he misled Iranian agents and sought to obtain information from them for Israel's benefit, a plan he had also shared with officials in Israel. However, Mahmoud Alavi, Iran's Minister of Intelligence, in a television program in September 2018, indirectly referred to Gonen Segev, suggesting that this incident demonstrates the 'intelligence oversight' of the Islamic Republic and that he had become a servant of Iran's counter-espionage department. Nevertheless, Alavi stated on December 18 in remarks to the Iranian parliament regarding the 'proximity of anti-revolutionary movements to each other' against the Islamic Republic's authority, identifying Israel as a partner in these movements and recent anti-security actions against Iran. Hossein Alai, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' General Staff, stated this August that the U.S. and Israel have 'established an intelligence organization within Iran.' The Telegram channel 'Bahaar,' aligned with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, reported in September 2018 that the head of the Israel desk in the counter-espionage department of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence had himself been arrested on espionage charges, although the channel did not provide further details. Previously, assessments indicated that Iran and Israel, as regional enemies, were covertly working hard to spy on each other, with the general perception being that Israel had the upper hand due to its stronger technology and intelligence system. Western intelligence agencies confirmed the authenticity of the Iranian nuclear archive documents that were transferred from Shourabad near Tehran to Israel in winter 2018, which Netanyahu unveiled in Tel Aviv in May 2019. However, Iran is now making new claims in this intelligence battle, and the statements made by the Director General of Counter-Espionage at Iran's Ministry of Intelligence on Wednesday seem to unveil a new layer of the long-standing hidden conflict between these two states, although Israel has yet to respond to this Iranian official's remarks.