Mossad officers have been posing as CIA officials to recruit operatives against Iran's nuclear program, according to a
Foreign Policy report published Friday.
The operations have infuriated senior US officials, who have since scaled back joint US-Israeli intelligence operations.
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The report cites six US intelligence officers as sources of information -
four of whom are retired and two whom are currently serving. Neither the
Mossad, the CIA, nor the White House commented on the report.
The article
described how Israeli Mossad officers recruited operatives by
impersonating US CIA agents. The Mossad officers were equipped with US
passports and dollars, and recruitment activities occured "under the nose
of US intelligence officers," including in London.
The
Foreign Policy report focused on Jundallah, or Soldiers of God - a
Sunni terrorist group based in Pakistan. The organization has admitted
to carrying out suicide bombings against Shi'ites, notably in Iran.
Israeli officials had been recruiting them to strike against Iran's
nuclear program, an activity which could be ongoing, according to the US
intelligence sources.
News of the "false flag" operations carried out by Israel reached the
highest echelons of US government in years past, angering them and
causing tension between the two allies. According to the article, former
US president George W.
Bush "went absolutely ballistic" when he was briefed about one such
operation that resulted in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear
scientist.
The report claimed that upon entering office, US
President Barack Obama "drastically scaled back joint US-Israel
intelligence programs targeting Iran," citing multiple serving and
retired officers. Israel regularly proposes joint Israeli-US covert
operations against the Iranian nuclear program, including proposals for
assassinations, but US officials routinely reject them, it said.
The article was critical of the Mossad's methods, calling the
organization "brazen" and saying that Israel's activities "jeopardized
the [Bush] administration's fragile relationship with Pakistan." It also
claimed that the Mossad's actions "invited attacks in kind on US
personnel."
Expounding upon the increasing US anger towards
Israel, the report cited one intelligence official as saying that "Israel is
supposed to be working with us, not against us. If they want to shed
blood, it would help a lot if it was their blood and not ours. You know,
they're supposed to be a strategic asset. Well, guess what? There are a
lot of people now, important people, who just don't think that's true."