JERUSALEM

Israel has managed to penetrate into Iran’s “heart”, said Yossi Cohen, the outgoing head of the Israeli national intelligence service, Mossad.

“We penetrated into the heart of hearts of the enemy Iran,” The Times of Israel newspaper quoted Cohen as saying at a handover ceremony. “We acted to constantly gather intelligence and uncover its secrets, and undermined its self-confidence and haughtiness.”

Cohen specifically highlighted Mossad’s success in dealing strong blows to the Iranian nuclear project.

We “exposed to the whole world Iran’s military nuclear program, its plans, its preservation of capabilities in the military nuclear field and Iran’s fraud and lies,” he said.

In November 2020, Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed by unidentified gunmen on the outskirts of the capital Tehran. Most Iranian officials held Israel responsible for the killing, vowing a fierce response.

Cohen’s tenure as Mossad chief officially ends Tuesday and will be succeeded by David Barnea, Mossad’s current deputy chief.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara