"Iran is heavily infiltrated by Israeli intelligence services"

2025-06-13 20:00:34Pikëpamje SHKRUAR NGA ENVER ROBELLI
Photos from footage released by Mossad showing attacks carried out by Israeli spy agency commandos on Iranian air defenses in Iran at dawn on July 13, 2025.

Missile expert Fabian Hinz from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) calls Israel's latest military strike on Iran unexpected in terms of its choice of targets: not only nuclear facilities, but also senior Iranian military commanders and important scientists were targeted, he said in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Hinz said that it appears that the Israelis are “trying to repeat the pattern of the war against Hezbollah, simultaneously eliminating both the military infrastructure and the leadership.” According to him, Iran has a fundamental problem: “Iran is too infiltrated by Israeli intelligence services to be able to secretly build new nuclear facilities.”

Hinz said that one of the key facilities of the nuclear program, Fordow, was not hit this time, for technical reasons, because it is located deep under a mountain. According to Hinz, Israel could temporarily disable this facility through indirect attacks, or take cyber or special forces action - "although the latter would be extremely dangerous."

Another effective strategy is to damage the supply chain and eliminate scientists: "Israel can cause great damage through this method and probably has capabilities that we don't even know about."

Regarding the Iranian threat, Hinz points out that Iran possesses drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with a range sufficient to strike Israel, but there are doubts about their accuracy and actual numbers. "In October, Iranian missiles failed to cause significant damage to (Israeli) military targets. But if they were to hit cities like Tel Aviv, even a deviation of hundreds of meters could have consequences."

Regarding the role of third parties, Hinz maintains that American assistance is essential. "The United States can play a decisive role with the navy and fighter jets. The support of Arab countries is more of a political matter - there could be tacit cooperation, such as allowing the use of airspace."

Hinz estimated for the German newspaper that the involvement of Hezbollah or the Yemeni Houthis would not significantly change the balance: "Hezbollah is weakened and its missiles have a shorter range. The Houthis do not pose a direct threat to Israel, but they could strike international shipping and the US fleet if the conflict escalates."

Video