EXCLUSIVE: Former Mossad director Yossi Cohen confirmed that the joint operation, coordinated by the United States and Israel, “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, halting uranium enrichment, and warned that Israel “could come back” if Tehran resumes its nuclear program.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Shurat HaDin conference at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City this week, Cohen, who led Israeli intelligence until 2021, described the operation as a turning point for Israel’s security and the region’s diplomatic future.
“For years, everyone knew that Iran was our main client – and my personal client,” he said, recalling his years as a Mossad agent. “That was the nation and station in our workflow because of the threat Iran posed to Israel.”
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Former Mossad Director Yossi Cohen and Shurat HaDin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner attend an event on October 28, 2025. (Ohad Kab)
“Since June 2025, Iran has been in a different position,” he said. “I absolutely accept the president’s description that Iran’s nuclear sites have been destroyed. I’m sure Iran is not enriching uranium today, which is a great achievement. And more than that, Iran knows two things: first, that we can, and we have – with the US, in wonderful cooperation and coordination. And second, something even more important: we can come back.”
Cohen praised the Trump administration for its discreet coordination with Israel, the Mossad and the IDF that made the joint attack possible.
“We destroyed their air defense systems, their Revolutionary Guard sites, we pursued their dirty terrorists in their own bedrooms and beds in Tehran and other cities,” he said. “We destroyed the nuclear facilities that threatened the State of Israel to the level of an existential threat – and they know we did a wonderful job there.”
The day Israel stole Iran’s nuclear archive
In his recently published book The Sword of Freedom, Cohen – who worked directly with three US presidents – recalls how he warned President Barack Obama in 2015 that the Iran nuclear deal was dangerous.
“I told him it was risky,” Cohen wrote. “He said, ‘Yossi, you’re so wrong.’”
That conversation, he says, was a scene later repeated with President Donald Trump. “When Trump took office in 2016, I told him the deal was ‘so wrong’ in principle and practice. He replied, ‘You’re absolutely right. It’s the worst deal ever.’”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents material on the development of Iranian nuclear weapons during a press conference in Tel Aviv, April 2018. (Sebastian Scheiner/AP)
“We love it when the weather is extreme, when everyone else stays inside.”
A major turning point, Cohen said, was the 2018 Mossad operation to steal Iran’s nuclear archive — a mission that ultimately influenced the U.S. decision to withdraw from the deal.
On January 31, 2018, Cohen watched a live video feed showing a 25-person Mossad team infiltrating Tehran on a cold, snowy night. “In Mossad we like it when the weather is extreme – when everyone else stays inside,” he said with a smile.
That night, agents stole 55,000 pages of classified documents and 183 compact discs, which they smuggled back to Israel — “not by UPS,” Cohen joked. The material showed that Iran, while negotiating with the US and world powers, secretly continued its nuclear weapons work.
Hostage deal and the ‘day after’ in Gaza
Cohen also spoke about the recent hostage crisis by the Trump administration.
“I cannot thank them enough, along with our allies in the Middle East,” he said. “All living hostages have been released and I hope to receive the remaining bodies soon, as Hamas has promised.”
People wave Israeli and American flags in Hostages Square during a rally in support of hostages and missing families following the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
He expressed optimism that the end of the war in Gaza could mark the beginning of a new diplomatic era.
“From now on, we will see a better Middle East when this war is practically over,” he said. “Perhaps the rebuilding of our relations in the region will resume.”
‘There will be more peace treaties’
Cohen predicted that renewed normalization efforts would extend beyond the Abraham Accords, which he helped broker during his tenure as Mossad chief.
“It’s not just the Saudis who will be lining up,” he said. “I know there are rumors about Indonesia, of course I cherish that, and I expect that other countries will sign peace treaties with the State of Israel.”
He noted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to visit Washington soon, calling it “an important visit, not only for him, but for us in the region.”
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits next to a senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)
“In the spirit of the American president right now and his wonderful team – Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Marco Rubio and others,” he added, “I expect to see more peace treaties in the future.”
The Iranian regime and the road ahead
At the Shurat HaDin conference, Cohen also said he believes the overthrow of the Iranian regime is possible, even if it could take years.
“The Iranian people are suffering under a brutal regime; anyone who dares to protest is hanged or shot,” he said. “But I believe the time has come, and if the world supports it, it will happen.”
Shurat HaDin President Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who hosted the event, warned of the ongoing political and legal threats Israel faces.
“The war is not over yet,” she said. “Political threats to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the aggressiveness of the International Criminal Court, are causing an unprecedented rise in anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism. We must unite all forces working on this issue to fight back – on the battlefield, in the courts and in the arena of global public opinion.”
Could Cohen one day replace Netanyahu as prime minister?
A file photo taken on October 15, 2015 at the Israeli Foreign Ministry shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) sitting next to Yossi Cohen, who is currently the head of Israel’s National Security Council, and who was named by Netanyahu on December 7, 2015 as the twelfth head of Mossad intelligence. (GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)
“I’m not going into politics now,” he said. “There is still a long, long way to go before I enter politics. I think the Israeli situation today is relatively stable, and no one is going anywhere. We will definitely have elections next year, and I don’t think I will participate.”
However, he did not rule out future involvement in Israel’s foreign affairs.
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“I would be happy to do whatever is necessary to support Israel’s international relations,” he said. “We need better agreements, good ones, with as many countries as possible.”
