Israeli Minister: Accessing Iran's Nuclear Archive Enhanced Israel's Deterrence Capability

Yoav Galant, Israel's housing minister and former senior general, stated that the "dramatic" action by his country's intelligence agency in obtaining the "complete archive of Iran's secret nuclear program" has increased Israel's deterrence capability, and Tehran is now more than ever contemplating a potential attack on Israel. Yisrael Katz, Israel's information minister, also remarked: "Extracting hundreds of kilograms of genuine and original documents from the hidden nuclear archive, from the heart of Iran to its transfer and delivery to Israel, was a completely daring act... and on the same night that the information was extracted from Iran, Iran itself realized that these documents were in Israel's hands and on their way to this country." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during a press conference on Monday night that his country's intelligence forces had obtained "half a ton" of "genuine" documents from the main archive of Iran's nuclear program and had transferred them to Israel weeks ago. According to him, these documents demonstrate that the numerous claims made by Iranian leaders over the years, asserting that they "have never sought to build a nuclear weapon" and consider it "religiously forbidden," are false, as Iran has indeed pursued a nuclear bomb program. Netanyahu emphasized that the archive of Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran had promised to destroy, had been moved to a simple and inconceivable location in Shourabad (around Tehran) and that Israel successfully transferred it entirely to its own country. Israeli officials unanimously stressed that the revelation of the country's high intelligence capabilities has "subjugated" Iran and shown Tehran that "Israel's long intelligence arms reach the heart of the most secretive places in Iran." Reserve General Yoav Galant, the housing minister in the Israeli government, added in an interview with his country's media on Tuesday, May 1, that "anyone who saw the intelligence achievement (of Israel) understood how far our intelligence and military capabilities extend." Yisrael Katz also described this achievement as "one of the greatest and most daring successes of Israeli intelligence agencies in over seventy years of their existence and Israel's history." In an interview with Walla, he added: "When the plan to obtain these documents (by Mossad to the Israeli security cabinet) was presented, I really didn't believe it was achievable." Katz further stated: "We were aware of the existence of this secret archive and its location before the JCPOA and monitored it, and after the JCPOA, Iran, contrary to its commitment, did not destroy it but hid it. However, we, who continued to monitor its transfer to the next location, decided to bring it out to expose Iran's deception." According to this minister, "this information opened Israel's hand on the international stage against Iran" and "all the credit for this work goes to the shadow forces." "Shadow forces" refer to intelligence agents and their informants. Zachi Hanegbi, the regional cooperation minister and a senior member of the Likud party, also responded to a question from the Israeli army radio about whether revealing these documents poses risks for those associated with Mossad, stating that all sensitivities had been assessed prior to the Prime Minister's press conference on Monday night. Walla and The New York Times reported that Mossad forces and their domestic collaborators had continuously monitored the secret nuclear archive since it was moved to Shourabad to ensure it was still there. An unnamed Israeli "official" told The New York Times on Tuesday that the work of extracting the entire archive was completed in January this year and done in just one night. According to Ronen Bergman, an Israeli intelligence reporter for Walla and The New York Times, after the documents arrived in Israel, Yossi Cohen, the head of Mossad, went to Washington and informed Donald Trump of this matter. Senior Iranian political and military officials labeled the Prime Minister's press conference a "ridiculous show" and referred to Netanyahu as being on par with a "lying shepherd," stating that he "pressured the President of the United States with a failed psychological operation to fulfill Israel's demands." However, Iranian intelligence and military agencies have remained silent regarding how Israel accessed what should be the most confidential secrets of a country, or concerning the individuals and internal factors that helped achieve this "Israeli intelligence achievement." No official from the Atomic Energy Organization, the Ministry of Intelligence, the military intelligence organization of the Revolutionary Guards, or other numerous military and intelligence bodies in Iran has commented on the possibility of their intelligence failure in maintaining the most classified information and documents, even if they are old, while the Israeli information minister stated that Iran knew "from the same night (in January) that this archive had been extracted, that it was in Israel's hands." In this context, the White House stated: "We will carefully review the documents and information from Israel regarding Iran." Zarif's reaction to Netanyahu's statements about "Iran's secret nuclear information" was noted, as well as Netanyahu's assertion that Iran is pursuing a secret nuclear weapon program. Pompeo stated in Israel that the U.S. would withdraw from the nuclear agreement if it was not amended. Zarif deemed Trump's demands regarding the JCPOA "unacceptable to the Iranian people." The NATO Secretary-General emphasized addressing Iran's "destabilizing actions" outside the JCPOA. The IRGC proposed to the Rouhani government to threaten the West with withdrawal from the JCPOA and the NPT. Emmanuel Macron stated that Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons at any cost.