Former Mossad chief confirms destruction of Iranian nuclear sites, warns Tehran

EXCLUSIVE: Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen confirmed that the joint operation coordinated by the United States and Israel “wiped out” Iran’s nuclear sites, effectively halting uranium enrichment, and warned that Israel “could return” if Tehran resumed its nuclear program.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Shurat HaDin conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York this week, Cohen, who led Israel’s intelligence agency until 2021, described the operation as a turning point for Israel’s security and the region’s diplomatic future.

“For many years, everyone knew that Iran was our number one client – ​​and my personal client,” he said, recalling his years as a Mossad agent. “It was the nation and station in our workflow because of the threat Iran posed to Israel.”

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Former Mossad Director Yossi Cohen and Shurat HaDin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner attend an event on October 28, 2025. (Ohad Kab)

“Since June 2025, Iran has been in a different position,” he said. “I can completely accept the president’s description that Iran’s nuclear sites have been destroyed. I know for sure that Iran is not enriching uranium these days, which is a great achievement. And more than that, Iran knows two things: first, that we can, and we have done it – with the United States, in beautiful cooperation and coordination. And second, something even more important: we can come back.”

Cohen praised the Trump administration for its discreet coordination with Israel, the Mossad and the IDF that enabled the joint strike.

Map of US strikes against Iran. (Fox News)

“We destroyed their air defense systems, their Revolutionary Guard sites, we chased their dirty terrorists into their own rooms and beds in Tehran and other cities,” he said. “We destroyed the nuclear facilities that threatened the State of Israel to the point of posing an existential threat – and they know we did a great job there.”

The day Israel stole Iran’s nuclear archives

In his recently published book, The Sword of Freedom, Cohen – who has worked directly with three US presidents – recalls how he warned President Obama in 2015 that the Iran nuclear deal was dangerous.

“I told him it was risky,” Cohen writes. “He said, ‘Yossi, you’re so wrong.'”

That conversation, he said, was a scene later repeated with President Donald Trump. “When Trump took office in 2016, I told him the deal was ‘so bad’ in principle and in practice. He responded, ‘You’re absolutely right. It’s the worst deal ever.'”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents information on Iranian nuclear weapons development at a news conference in Tel Aviv, April 2018. Netanyahu says his government has obtained “half a ton” of secret Iranian documents proving that the government in Tehran once had a nuclear weapons program. Calling it a “great intelligence achievement,” Netanyahu said Monday that the documents showed Iran lied about its nuclear ambitions before signing a 2015 deal with world powers. (Sébastien Scheiner/AP)

“We like when the weather is extreme, when everyone stays indoors.”

A key turning point, Cohen said, was Mossad’s 2018 operation to steal Iran’s nuclear archives — a mission that ultimately influenced the U.S. decision to withdraw from the deal.

On January 31, 2018, Cohen watched a live video showing a 25-member Mossad team infiltrating Tehran on a cold, snowy night. “At Mossad, we like it when the weather is extreme, when everyone stays indoors,” he said with a smile.

That night, agents stole 55,000 pages of classified documents and 183 compact discs, which they smuggled back to Israel – “not by UPS,” Cohen joked. These documents revealed that while Iran was negotiating with the United States and world powers, it was secretly continuing its work on nuclear weapons.

Hostage deal and “day after” in Gaza

Cohen also spoke about the recent hostage deal brokered by the Trump administration.

“I can’t thank them and our allies in the Middle East enough,” he said. “All living hostages are free and I hope to receive the remaining bodies shortly, as Hamas has committed to doing.”

People wave Israeli and American flags on Place des Otages during a rally in support of hostages and missing families following the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

He expressed optimism that the end of the war in Gaza could mark the start of a new diplomatic era.

“From now on, we will see a better Middle East when this war is virtually over,” he said. “Perhaps the rebuilding of our relations in the region will begin to resume.”

“Other peace treaties will come”

Cohen predicted that new normalization efforts would extend beyond the Abraham Accords, which he helped establish during his tenure as head of Mossad.

“Not only the Saudis will be online,” he added. “I know there are rumors about Indonesia, I cherish them, of course, and I am waiting for other countries to come and sign peace treaties with the State of Israel.”

He noted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to visit Washington soon, calling the visit “an important visit not only for him, but also for us in the region.”

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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pictured seated next to a senior Iranian military official. (Getty Images)

“In the spirit of the current US president and his great team – Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Marco Rubio and others,” he added, “I expect to see more peace treaties in the future.”

The Iranian regime and the road ahead

At the Shurat HaDin conference, Cohen also said he believed the overthrow of the Iranian regime was possible, although it could take years.

“The Iranian people are suffering under a cruel regime: anyone who dares to protest is hanged or shot,” he said. “But I believe the time is right and if the world supports it, it will happen.”

Shurat HaDin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who hosted the event, warned of the continuing political and legal threats Israel faces.

“The war is not over yet,” she said. “Political threats to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel and the aggressiveness of the International Criminal Court are leading to an unprecedented rise in anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism. We must unite all forces working on this issue to fight back – on the battlefield, in the courts and in the arena of global public opinion.

Could Cohen one day replace Netanyahu as prime minister?

A file photo taken at the Israeli Foreign Ministry on October 15, 2015 shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) seated next to Yossi Cohen, who is currently the head of Israel’s National Security Council and was named the 12th head of the Mossad intelligence agency by Netanyahu in December. 7, 2015. (GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)

In the interview with Fox News Digital, Cohen also addressed speculation about his political ambitions, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insinuation in 2018 that he could one day be his successor.

“I’m not going into politics at the moment,” he said. “There is a very long way to go before I get into politics. I think the Israeli situation today is relatively stable and no one is going anywhere. Next year we will have elections, for sure, and I don’t think I will join in.”

However, he does not rule out future involvement in Israel’s foreign affairs.

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“I would like to do whatever it takes to support Israel’s international relations,” he said. “We need better deals, good deals, with as many countries as possible.”