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EXCLUSIVE: The former director of Mossad Yossi Cohen, confirmed that the joint operation coordinated by the United States and Israel “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, halting its uranium enrichment, and warned that Israel “can come again” if Tehran resumes its nuclear program.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Shurat HaDin conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City 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 premier client — and my personal client,” he said, recalling his years as a Mossad operative. “That was the nation and the 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 Oct. 28, 2025. (Ohad Kab)
“Since June 2025, Iran has been in a different position,” he said. “I can absolutely accept the president’s description that Iran’s nuclear sites were obliterated. I know for sure that Iran doesn’t enrich uranium these days, which is a great achievement. And more than that, Iran knows two things: first, that we can, and we did — with the U.S., in beautiful cooperation and coordination. And second, something even more important — we can come again.”
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 on Iran. (Fox News)
“We destroyed their air-defense systems, their Revolutionary Guard sites, we chased their filthy terrorists in their own bedrooms and beds inside Tehran and other cities,” he said. “We destroyed the nuclear facilities that were threatening the State of Israel up to the level of an existential threat — and they know that we’ve done a beautiful job there.”
The day Israel stole Iran’s nuclear archive
In his newly released book, The Sword of Freedom, Cohen — who worked directly with three U.S. 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 are so wrong.’”
That conversation, he says, was a scene later repeated with President Donald Trump. “When Trump took office in 2016, I told him the deal was ‘so wrong’ in principle and practice. He replied, ‘You’re so right. It’s the worst deal ever.’”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents material on Iranian nuclear weapons development during a press conference in Tel Aviv, April 2018. Netanyahu says his government has obtained “half a ton” of secret Iranian documents proving the Tehran government once had a nuclear weapons program. Calling it a “great intelligence achievement,” Netanyahu said Monday that the documents show that Iran lied about its nuclear ambitions before signing a 2015 deal with world powers. (Sebastian Scheiner/AP)
“We love it when the weather is extreme — when everyone else stays indoors.”
A key turning point, Cohen said, was the 2018 Mossad operation to steal Iran’s nuclear archive — a mission that ultimately influenced the U.S. decision to withdraw from the deal.
On Jan. 31, 2018, Cohen watched a live video feed showing a 25-member Mossad squad infiltrating Tehran on a cold, snowy night. “In the Mossad, we love it when the weather is extreme — when everyone else 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. The materials revealed that while Iran was negotiating with the U.S. and world powers, it was secretly continuing its nuclear weapons work.
Hostage deal and the “day after” in Gaza
Cohen also spoke about the recent Trump administration brokered hostage deal.
“I can’t thank them enough, together with our allies in the Middle East,” he said. “All living hostages are free, and I hope to receive the remaining bodies shortly, as Hamas has committed.”
People wave Israeli and American flags in Hostages Square during a rally supporting hostages and missing families following the Israel-Hamas peace deal. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
He expressed optimism that the end of the war in Gaza could mark the beginning of a new diplomatic era.
“From now on, we will see a better Middle East when this war is practically over,” he said. “Maybe the reconstruction of our relationships in the region will start to resume.”
“More peace treaties will come”
Cohen predicted that renewed normalization efforts would extend beyond the Abraham Accords, which he helped establish during his tenure as Mossad chief.
“Not only will the Saudis be in line,” he said. “I know there are some rumors about Indonesia, I cherish that, of course, and I’m expecting 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 it “an important visit not only for him, but for us in the region.”
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Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pictured sitting next to senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)
“In the spirit of the American president right now and his beautiful team — Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Marco Rubio and others,” he added, “I’m expecting to see more peace treaties in the future.”
The Iranian regime and the road ahead
At the Shurat HaDin conference, Cohen also said he believes the overthrow of the Iranian regime is possible, though it may take years.
“The Iranian people suffer under a cruel regime — anyone who dares to protest is hanged or shot,” he said. “But I believe the time has come, and if the world supports it, it will happen.”
Shurat HaDin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who hosted the event, warned of the ongoing political and legal threats facing Israel.
“The war is not yet over,” she said. “Political threats to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the aggressiveness of the International Criminal Court, are driving an unprecedented rise in anti-Israel sentiment and antisemitism. 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 picture taken at the Israeli foreign ministry on October 15, 2015, shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) sitting next to Yossi Cohen, who is currently the head of Israel’s National Security Council, and who was named as the 12th head of the Mossad intelligence agency by Netanyahu on Dece. 7, 2015. (GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)
In the Fox News Digital interview, Cohen also addressed speculation about his political ambitions, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2018 hint that he could one day be his successor.
“I’m not going into politics right now,” he said. “There’s a long, long way to go before I enter politics. I think the Israeli situation today is relatively stable, and nobody is going anywhere. Next year we’ll have elections for sure, and I don’t think I’ll join.”
However, he did not rule out future involvement in Israel’s foreign affairs.
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“I’d love to do whatever it takes to support Israel’s relationships internationally,” he said. “We need better agreements, good ones, with as many countries as we can.”
Efrat Lachter is an investigative reporter and war correspondent. Her work has taken her to 40 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. She is a recipient of the 2024 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalism. Lachter can be followed on X @efratlachter.
