Iran has claimed to have obtained a significant cache of Israeli intelligence materials, including sensitive documents related to Israel’s nuclear programme, Iranian-affiliated media reported on June 7. The announcement, made without supporting evidence, comes ahead of an expected diplomatic push by Western nations to censure Tehran over its own nuclear activities.
Iran’s Intelligence Minister, Esmail Khatib, told state media that his ministry had acquired an "important treasury" of strategic, operational, and scientific intelligence concerning Israel’s nuclear capabilities. "It was transferred into the country with God’s help," he said, adding that thousands of pages and files had been obtained through infiltration and access to Israeli sources.
Iranian state television first aired the claims on June 7, citing unnamed officials and offering no documentation. Hezbollah-linked outlet Al Mayadeen reported the materials had been physically transported from inside Israel. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted sources who said the volume of documents was so vast that reviewing them had taken considerable time. To ensure their secure arrival, a period of media silence had been observed.
Israel has not confirmed the breach, but the claim surfaces amid a broader uptick in espionage activity. Prosecutors recently indicted two Israeli nationals, Roi Mizrahi and Almog Attias, for allegedly spying for Iran. Both men, aged 25 and from Nesher near Haifa, are accused of carrying out intelligence missions under the direction of an Iranian agent. One was charged with aiding an enemy during wartime and transporting weapons.
While no official link has been drawn between the arrests and the alleged intelligence leak, Israeli media have speculated that the two incidents may be connected. Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, has reported a notable rise in Iran-linked spy plots over the past year, with more than 30 citizens arrested for activities ranging from photographing military sites to planning assassinations.
The Iranian claim is being widely viewed as a symbolic response to Israel’s 2018 operation, in which Mossad agents reportedly stole around 100,000 documents from a warehouse in Tehran. That archive, made public by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, detailed Iran’s nuclear weapons efforts and played a key role in the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord.
Western nations are now preparing to censure Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors meeting this week. The move could find Tehran in noncompliance, potentially triggering a reimposition of UN sanctions through the soon-to-expire “snapback” mechanism built into the original deal. That deadline, in October, is fuelling urgency in ongoing backchannel talks between Iran and the US in Oman and Italy.
Tehran has rejected US demands to halt uranium enrichment. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared last week: “To give up enrichment is to surrender. That is 100 per cent against the interests of the Iranian nation.”