Call Me Back – Inside Mossad’s Shadow War with Iran, Part 1: The Sabotage Years

Host: Dan Senor
Guest: Ronen Bergman
Date: March 21, 2026
Podcast by Ark Media

Main Theme & Purpose

This exclusive episode launches a three-part inside series on Mossad’s decades-long “shadow war” with Iran, offering unprecedented behind-the-scenes insights into Israeli intelligence operations aimed at sabotaging Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Journalist and historian Ronen Bergman guides listeners through the chronology, tactics, and ethical dilemmas that have shaped this secret conflict, with part one focusing on “The Sabotage Years” (2007–2012) under Mossad chief Meir Dagan.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: From Shadow War to Open Conflict

• Initial Context: The conversation opens with Bergman, reporting live from his office near Tel Aviv, as Iranian missile interceptions are occurring outside—a stark reminder that the “shadow war” is increasingly in the open.
  “I am speaking with you now from my office in Ramata Sharon...I hear the explosions of the air defenses, of the interception of Iranian missiles...It's not in the shadows anymore, right?” — Bergman [03:11]

2. Discovery of Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions (1993–2003)

• Early Israeli Concerns: After the Iran-Iraq War, Israel suspects Iran is seeking chemical weapons.

  • Mossad assigns Yossi Cohen (later Mossad chief), a “brilliant young case officer,” to investigate Iran’s interest in weapons of mass destruction.
  • Iran seeks expertise and technology from A.Q. Khan, the “father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb.”
  • The U.S. stops Israel from assassinating A.Q. Khan, promising to handle him themselves.
    “Let's go and cut the head of the snake and kill A.Q. Khan...The US came to them and said, listen, this is our court. We take care of A.Q. Khan. Do not touch it.” — Bergman [05:45]

• 2003 Natanz Revelation:

  • Israel discovers a hidden uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, with thousands of centrifuges being installed.
  • Ariel Sharon considers a military strike but deems it unfeasible due to technological and intelligence limitations, and global chaos during the Iraq War buildup.
  • Iran, fearing a US invasion after the fall of Iraq, orders “Project Ahmad” (weaponization) dismantled—but only superficially. Secrets and key scientists are relocated to universities under the guise of legitimate research.
    • The mastermind: Professor Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, aka “the old fox.”
      “While dismantling his own project...he was secretly relocating nucleus of that project into the universities...hiding in plain sight.” — Bergman [09:20]

• US-Israeli Intelligence Debate:

  • Rifts emerge between US and Israeli assessments regarding Iran’s intentions and capabilities. “Even in 2025, the assessment of parts of the American intelligence community were that Iran is not producing nuclear weapon... The Israelis were claiming this is not a coincidence, these are all interconnected.” — Bergman [12:00]

3. Penetrating Iranian Intelligence

• Hacker Wars & Codebreaking:
  • Mossad targets Iranian encrypted communications by infiltrating an Iranian embassy in Europe, photographing documents and equipment—outperforming the CIA and NSA in such operations. “A Mossad team broke into an Iranian embassy in one of the European countries...helped the Israelis understand much, much, much better how Iran is encrypting its communication.” — Bergman [13:18]
  • They share these breakthroughs with the NSA, strengthening US-Israel intelligence ties further.

4. Operation Avalanche: The Laptop and the “Blueprints for a Bomb”

• Pivot Point—Agent ‘Dolphin’ & German Intel Cooperation:
  • German intelligence recruits a scientist close to Fakhrizadeh (codename: Agent Dolphin). He offers a laptop with bomb blueprints in exchange for defecting with his family.
  • The CIA and Germans successfully extract his family and the laptop, but the scientist is captured and executed in Iran—a major tragedy. “They missed the opportunity of bringing the scientist, Agent Dolphin, and he was caught by the Iranians and executed. I was told that his boss, Fakhri Zadeh, made sure that they torture him and they kill him. Of course, he saw it as a betrayal in his trust, a big tragedy.” — Bergman [18:20]
  • The blueprints expose Iran’s nuclear weaponization efforts and bring greater scrutiny from the IAEA, though the agency stops short of declaring Iran in full breach of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

5. The Sabotage Years (2007–2012): Meir Dagan’s Doctrine

a. Meir Dagan’s Leadership

• Dagan’s Ethos & Strategies:
  • A “ruthless” military man, Dagan transforms Mossad from “just” an intelligence collection agency to an operational force bent on halting Iran’s nuclear project through direct, multi-pronged action.
  • He believed Israel must delay or prevent enemy advancements with covert operations—not war. “Dagan didn't want just to collect. He said, I have the responsibility to stop Iranian adversaries from acquiring nuclear weapon.” — Bergman [20:18]
  • Doctrine:
    1. Simultaneous deployment of sabotage, cyber-attacks, assassination, and psychological operations to slow and disrupt Iran’s progress.
    2. The goal: buy time, sow confusion, and avoid direct war. “If we do sabotage, if we do cyber attacks, if we assassinate the leaders...if we do all of that together, he said, we will be able to stop and we will not need to resort for war.” — Bergman [21:29]

b. Game-Changing Recruitment Tactics

• Israeli Agent Protocols Upended:
  • Mossad pivots from sending Israelis undercover to recruiting actual Iranians—so-called “warrior agents”—indoctrinated, trained, and tasked with sabotage and even assassination, since new biometric controls make forged identities far more difficult. “Reality is that most of the work, most of the secret operations...were done by Iranians and not by Itzik from Petah Tikva, who learned Farsi and was sent under disguise to Tehran.” — Bergman [23:52]

c. Detailed Sabotage Operations

• Supply Chain Attacks:

  • Mossad targets the international supply chain for Iran’s nuclear program, sabotaging key equipment at source—sometimes even destroying them at foreign factories, or tampering to cause future failures after delivery to Iran. “Iran cannot produce all the parts of the nuclear project by itself. Let's say that we deprive them of 100 of these components...” — Bergman [24:22]
  • Disruption methods include:
    • Inciting confusion and finger-pointing within Iranian procurement teams
    • Planting remote-monitoring devices
    • Causing subtle malfunctions that waste time and resources

• Anecdote: The Dog Leash Trick

  • A Mossad operative recounts how she infiltrated an Austrian factory by pretending to search for her lost dog—a creative example of everyday tradecraft. “She bought a new running suit and a leash for a dog...she came to the gate of the factory and said, I lost Rexy, my dog. He ran away from me...they let her walk in the factory with them for three hours, collecting all the necessary intelligence that she needed.” — Bergman [27:09]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the changing nature of “shadow wars”:
  “...it's not in the shadows anymore, right?”
  — Ronen Bergman [03:11]

• On the Mossad-CIA relationship:
  “I spoke with Hayden. He had nothing but great respect for the Dagan. He thought that the Dagan was honest and was thinking operationally like him.”
  — Ronen Bergman [16:07]

• On recruiting “warrior agents” inside Iran:
  “This new kind of agent would travel to another country, be trained by Mossad not just to supply intelligence, but also to do all sorts of things, including assassinations.”
  — Ronen Bergman [23:28]

• On the sabotage doctrine:
  “If we do all of that together...[sabotage, cyber, assassinations], we will be able to stop and we will not need to resort for war.”
  — Ronen Bergman [21:29]

• On real vs. Hollywood spycraft:
  “Maybe I'm sort of disillusioning people here about seeing Fouda or Tehran, but reality is that most of the work...was done by Iranians...”
  — Ronen Bergman [23:52]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–03:11 — Introduction; context for the series and present-day relevance
• 03:11–06:40 — Early detection of Iran’s WMD ambitions; Yossi Cohen and Project Sako; US-Israel disagreement over A.Q. Khan
• 07:06–10:55 — Discovery of Natanz site; Sharon/Dagan calculate and decide against military strike; Project Ahmad dispersal
• 11:55–13:18 — US-Israeli intelligence debate; ambiguity of Iran's nuclear intentions
• 13:18–15:32 — Mossad breaks Iranian codes; partnership with NSA
• 15:57–16:46 — Formation of Mossad-CIA leadership alliance; Dagan & Hayden
• 16:54–19:31 — Operation Avalanche; Agent Dolphin; IAEA implications
• 19:31–22:19 — The rise of Meir Dagan; doctrine of multidimensional sabotage
• 22:19–24:12 — Recruitment innovations; switch to Iranian “warrior agents”
• 24:22–27:40 — Detailed sabotage tactics; factory infiltration story

Conclusion

This “Inside” episode provides a gripping, candid look at Israel’s evolving strategy against Iran’s nuclear program, blending strategic insight, intelligence history, and firsthand operational tales. Key themes include the escalation from espionage to action, the nuances of international cooperation (and mistrust), and the human ingenuity—often invisible to the public—that underpins decades of global intelligence wars.
Parts two and three will tackle aborted military plans (2012) and Mossad/CIA’s “death by a thousand cuts” (2018–2021).