Former Mossad chief says Israeli agents repeatedly visited Iran's Fordow nuclear complex

Ex-Mossad director Yossi Cohen told a Jerusalem audience that Israeli spies had toured Iran's Fordow nuclear site many times, praising the U.S. strike as fulfilling his ambition.

During a gathering of local officials in Jerusalem, former Mossad head Yossi Cohen revealed that Israeli spies had made numerous trips to Iran's Fordow nuclear complex to better understand its capabilities. He offered no specifics on the timing or personnel of these missions, but celebrated the U.S. airstrike on the site as the fulfillment of his "dreams." The comment follows the 12-day war launched in June 2025, when Israel, citing an existential threat, attacked Iran's nuclear and missile programs, and the United States briefly joined, bombing Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Cohen, who led Mossad from 2015 to 2021 and is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, previously helped broker normalization accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, and was reportedly connected to the 2020 assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Since leaving the agency, he has stayed in the public eye, hinting at a possible political career. His statements highlight the persistent tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions and the intelligence dimension of the conflict.