Israel’s spy chief has pledged more covert efforts to try to topple Iran’s government, a tacit acknowledgment the countries’ conflict would continue even as the US pursued a new round of peace negotiations with the Islamic Republic.
David Barnea, the head of the Mossad, said Israel had not expected that its bombardment of Iranian military, nuclear and infrastructure sites, waged in concert with the United States, would be enough to end Iran’s 47-year-old clerical-led rule.
“Our mission has yet to be completed,” Barnea said in a speech on Tuesday. “Our obligation will be discharged only after this extremist regime is replaced. This regime, which seeks our destruction, must pass from the world.”
He did not expand on what the Mossad might do. While Israel has carried out covert operations in Iran for years, it was rare for the Mossad to say explicitly it was seeking regime change.
Barnea’s comments signal the Israelis still see a major threat from Iran despite the damage dealt to its military capabilities from the roughly five-week-long campaign by the US-Israel alliance.