An audio recording obtained by The Washington Post reveals a chilling aspect of Israel’s covert operation aimed at intimidating senior Iranian military officials amid escalating tensions between the two nations.
Following Israel’s first wave of strikes against Iran on June 13—targeting top military leaders and nuclear scientists—Israeli intelligence operatives launched a secret campaign to destabilize Tehran’s leadership by contacting high-ranking Iranian officials directly. Speaking Persian fluently, operatives warned these figures they faced imminent death unless they ceased supporting Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to three sources familiar with the operation.
The Washington Post acquired an audio file and transcript of a call made the same day to a senior Iranian general within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In the recording, the Israeli operative warns, “You have 12 hours to escape with your wife and child. Otherwise, you’re on our list right now.” The operative further threatened that Israel could “train weapons” on the general and his family “at any moment” and urged the official to make a video disassociating himself from the regime.
The general asked how to send the video, to which the operative replied that a Telegram messaging ID would be provided. It remains unclear whether the general complied, but sources say he is believed to still be in Iran.
This phone campaign is part of a broader Israeli operation named “Rising Lion,” which complements its military assaults on Iranian nuclear and military sites. Israeli officials revealed that intelligence teams and pre-positioned assets within Iran had been activated to maximize pressure on Tehran’s regime.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has framed the strikes as essential to halting Iran’s nuclear weapon ambitions, although detailed evidence of such weaponization remains undisclosed. In response, the US launched follow-up attacks using B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles against deeply buried nuclear facilities, reportedly causing “severe damage.”
The covert intimidation campaign aims to sow fear and confusion within Iran’s upper echelons, complicating Khamenei’s efforts to replace assassinated commanders, including Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami and Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri.
One insider told The Washington Post that “the second-tier leadership that is supposed to inherit the positions … are terrified” and hesitant to assume roles targeted by Israeli operations. The campaign reportedly includes warnings delivered by phone, letters under doors, and messages to family members, underscoring Israel’s deep intelligence penetration.
Despite the pressure, Western officials have seen no signs yet of high-level defections within Iran’s military or IRGC.
This covert psychological warfare adds a new dimension to the ongoing conflict, as Israel continues to blend targeted military strikes with intelligence tactics designed to destabilize Iran from within.
