Yossi Cohen reports theft of Iran’s nuclear archive. Warehouse raids in 2018 transported thousands of documents from the country to Israel.
He also indicated Israel’s involvement in the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz and the killing of a nuclear scientist.
Mr. Cohen retired as the head of Mossad last week.
He spoke to journalist Ilan Dayan on Channel 12’s Uvda documentary program, which was broadcast on Israeli television on Thursday night.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Mr. Cohen as Mossad chief in late 2015. He joined the agency in 1982 after studying at university in London and told the program he had had “hundreds” of passports throughout his career.
The most revelatory moments in the interview were about the theft of Iran’s nuclear archive.
Mr. Netanyahu revealed the stolen files at a press conference in 2018, which he said proved Iran once covertly tried to make nuclear weapons and had secretly retained the know-how – an allegation Iran denied.
Mr. Cohen said in the interview that it took two years to plan the operation. Altogether 20 Mossad agents were involved on the ground – none of whom were Israeli citizens, journalist Ilan Dayan said.
The spy chief watched the operation from a command center in Tel Aviv. He said the agents broke into a warehouse and had to break into more than 30 safes. “As soon as Trove’s images appeared on the screen, “there was incredible excitement for all of us,” he was quoted by The Times of Israel.
He said all the henchmen survived the raid and were fine, although some had to be evacuated from Iran.
Israel has spoken openly about taking those tens of thousands of documents. But Mr. Cohen also hinted at Mossad’s involvement in other operations long rumored to have been the work of Israeli agents.
Early in the interview, Mr. Cohen spoke about the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz.
Iran said that sabotage caused a fire at the uranium enrichment site in July 2020. A day after revealing new equipment in April this year, officials again said it had been sabotaged and had suffered major damage. Iran accused Israel of “nuclear terrorism” over the incident.
Mr. Cohen told Ms. Dayan that he knew the site well and that he could take her to the cellar “where the spinning centrifuges are located”. He then added: “Those that used to spin. Nowadays, the cellar doesn’t look like it used to.”
And he also spoke about Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Iran’s top nuclear scientist was assassinated on a road outside Tehran last November – an attack Iran publicly blamed on Israel.
The former Mossad chief did not confirm or deny his involvement in the death. But he said the scientist was a target “for many years”, adding that his scientific knowledge belongs to the agency.
“If man constitutes a capacity that endangers the citizens of Israel, he must cease to exist,” he was quoted as saying, but added that one could be spared “if he is ready to change profession and will not harm us anymore”
