by William P Strobel, Souad Mekhennet and Yeganeh Torbati at The Washington Post
An audio recording obtained by The Washington Post is a window into the covert campaign by Israeli intelligence to intimidate and divide Iranian military officials.
In the hours after Israel launched its first wave of strikes against Iran on June 13, killing top military leaders and nuclear scientists, Israeli intelligence operatives launched a covert campaign to intimidate senior officials with the apparent aim of dividing and destabilizing Tehran’s theocratic regime, according to three people familiar with the operation.
People working for Israel’s security services who speak Persian, Iran’s primary language, called senior Iranian officials on their cellphones and warned them that they, too, would die unless they ceased supporting the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, according to the three people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss clandestine operations. One of them estimated that more than 20 Iranians in positions of power were contacted.
The Washington Post obtained an audio recording and transcript of one such call, which took place the same day, June 13, that Israel began its bombardment of Iran.
Listen:…