Photo: EPA
The head of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, said in a speech on Tuesday that despite a large-scale five-week military campaign by the United States and Israel against Iran, the mission is not finished. Israel will continue covert operations aimed at changing the regime in Iran, Bloomberg reports.
“Our commitment will be fulfilled only when this extremist regime is replaced. This regime, which seeks our destruction, must disappear from this world,” Barnea said.
First stage
The joint military campaign by the United States and Israel lasted about five weeks. Strikes targeted military sites, nuclear infrastructure, and strategic facilities in Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the airstrikes eliminated two “existential threats”: ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons that threatened Israel’s existence.
However, according to Barnea, Israel never expected that bombing alone would end the 47-year theocratic rule of the ayatollahs. In other words, military strikes were seen only as the first stage — weakening the regime’s military capabilities, not bringing about its final collapse.
Mossad’s covert operations
Barnea did not specify what actions Mossad plans next. However, a week earlier, The New York Times, citing closed discussions in the White House in January, reported that Barnea had convinced U.S. partners that his agency could “mobilize the Iranian opposition, spark unrest and acts of civil disobedience that could even lead to the collapse of the Iranian government.”
Mossad has long conducted covert operations on Iranian territory, including assassinations of nuclear scientists and cyberattacks (the most well-known being the Stuxnet virus, which disrupted Iran’s uranium enrichment centrifuges).
Risks
When the U.S. and Israel launched the operation in February 2026, President Donald Trump and Netanyahu publicly expressed hope that it would create conditions for Iranians themselves to overthrow the regime. Mass protests did erupt in December 2025 and January 2026, but they did not resume on a large scale after the bombing began. Additionally, there has been no significant split within Iran’s security structures — both the army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remain loyal to the regime.
Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, who participated in White House meetings, told CBS News on Sunday:
“Mossad believed that, as we saw in January, the potential for millions of people to return to the streets is even greater now. But there are no guarantees.”
Consequences
Barnea’s statements come at a highly sensitive moment. The United States is currently negotiating with Iran to extend the ceasefire, which expires next week, and to reach a more lasting peace agreement. Open declarations by Israel about regime change could significantly complicate these negotiations and increase mistrust between Washington and Tehran.
If such statements derail the talks and hostilities resume, it will inevitably impact global oil and gas markets. Iranian oil accounts for about 2% of global production, and any escalation in the Middle East traditionally leads to rising fuel prices and, eventually, higher utility costs.
