TEHRAN – In an effort to cover up Israel’s intelligence failures in Iran, the new Mossad chief vowed to quash Iran’s nuclear program regardless of the international community’s engagement with Iran, a position already been taken by the former spymaster of Israel but failed to make any progress in putting a halt to Iran’s nuclear activities. 

New Mossad chief David Barnea said Israel is isolated on the issue of the nuclear talks between Iran and major world powers that are underway in the Austrian capital of Vienna but nevertheless it will continue to confront Iran’s nuclear work. Speaking at a ceremony marking his entry into office as head of the intelligence agency, Barnea said, “The agreement with world powers that is taking shape only reinforces the sense of isolation in which we find ourselves on this issue.” 

He added, “I say it clearly — no, we do not intend to act according to the majority opinion since this majority will not bear the consequences for the erroneous assessment of this threat.”

The new Mossad director threatened that Iran’s nuclear program will continue to feel Mossad’s might, accusing Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons.

The remarks came a day after Barnea’s boss issued threats against Iran at a handoff event during which outgoing Mossad Director Yossi Cohen handed over control of Israel’s intelligence agency to Barnea. The lame-duck Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel must “do everything, but everything” to confront Iran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu once again repeated his outworn claim that Iran is pursuing an unpeaceful nuclear program, describing this program as the “greatest threat” against Israel. He even went so far as to say that he would eliminate this threat if he was to choose between friction with the U.S. and eliminating the threat, a claim that drew a backlash from Netanyahu’s rival Benny Gantz, who tries to snuggle up to the Biden administration. 

Earlier on Monday, Cohen alleged that Israel deeply infiltrated Iran. “We penetrated into the heart of hearts of the enemy Iran,” the former spymaster boasted. 

The remarks by the Israeli officials came at a time when Israel is facing a historic failure in terms of putting a halt to Iran’s nuclear program, which continues to make significant progress despite Israel’s continued campaign of sabotage against Iran.  

The Israelis can boast about their alleged success against Iran and say whatever they want, but no amount of bragging would change the reality on the ground, which attests to the progress Iran has made in the nuclear sphere.

Regardless of the Israeli hype, Israel, in theory, has two options to completely stop Iran’s peaceful nuclear program: covert intelligence sabotage and overt military strike. 

Israel has never sought to use the second option despite the vociferous fuss Netanyahu has made about attacking Iran over the past years because it knows full well that such an attack would inflict an irreversible cost on Israel. The Israelis know better than anyone else that Iran is not Iraq or Syria, which turned a blind eye on Israeli aggression when their nuclear facilities were pounded by Israel. 

As regards the second option, Israel actively sought sabotage against the Iranian nuclear program. And despite some minor damages they caused to some Iranian nuclear facilities they utterly failed to bring the whole program to a halt. On the contrary, after every act of sabotage, Iran stepped up its nuclear activities, indicating that Israeli sabotage would only ratchet up these activities. 

So, the intelligence option did not yield the outcome the Israelis were seeking. Instead, it only prompted Iranian authorities to beef up the security of nuclear plants. At the end of the day, with every act of sabotage, a window of infiltration is closed. 

Israel also suffered a resounding defeat at the diplomatic level, with Iran and the West resuming nuclear talks in Vienna after four years of Israeli-backed American pressure on Iran.