Mossad thanks CIA for help with Operation Rising Lion

The Israeli spy agency promised to “keep a watchful eye” on Iran.

Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has thanked the CIA for its close cooperation during attacks on Iran, days after a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect.

“I also wish to express my gratitude and appreciation to our key partner – the CIA – for the joint action and the operations that were successfully carried out, as well as to its director, who supported the Mossad in making the right decisions,” Mossad Director David Barnea said in a statement on Wednesday, as quoted by AFP.

Israeli agents reportedly smuggled drones into Iran, which were then used to assassinate senior commanders and nuclear scientists as part of Operation Rising Lion, launched on June 13. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks, accompanied by airstrikes across Iran, were aimed at preventing the country from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The US joined the strikes on June 22, targeting three nuclear sites, including an underground uranium enrichment center in Fordow.

“The Iranian threat, which has endangered our security for decades, has been significantly neutralized,” Barnea said. “We will continue to keep a watchful eye on all known Iranian projects – we are intimately familiar with them – and we will be there, just as we have been until now.”

In a separate statement on Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the strikes “severely damaged” Iran’s nuclear program. US media outlets, however, cited an assessment by the Pentagon’s intelligence agency that the attack only managed to delay Iranian nuclear activities by months.

Iran, which denies that it has a military nuclear program, has condemned the attacks as unprovoked and responded by firing missiles at Israeli cities and launching a barrage at the US airbase in Qatar. Tehran also vowed to continue uranium enrichment.

The ceasefire brokered by Washington came into effect on Tuesday and has so far been upheld.