Israeli media has unveiled new details about a failed secret plan devised by the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, earlier this year to topple the Iranian regime. The operation was code-named 'Puss in Boots.'
According to a report by Israel's Channel 13, the plan involved Israeli military strikes targeting Iranian Revolutionary Guard sites along Iran's border with Iraq, in the Iranian Kurdistan region.
The goal of these strikes was to clear the way for Kurdish fighters to cross into Iran and advance towards Kurdish cities in the northwest of the country.
Mossad anticipated that thousands of young Kurds would join these fighters, potentially turning the movement into a widespread uprising that could reach Tehran.
The report suggested that should the movement reach Tehran, it would ignite mass protests involving millions, ultimately leading to the collapse of the Iranian regime.
At the outset of the conflict, Israel and the United States launched intensive strikes targeting Iranian security forces, including regime officials, military bases, missile systems, police stations, and Basij forces in northwest Iran, to facilitate the Kurdish fighters' advance.
However, the plan's exposure in the media, alongside Turkish pressure, and Kurdish hesitancy ultimately led the United States to abandon the initiative, the report noted.
The report highlighted the Kurdish attack as a key element of the plan, which also included the return of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power in Iran.
The New York Times reported on Monday that Israel had been working for years to 'recruit' Ahmadinejad for its cause and bring him back to the political scene.
The Israeli plan included a meeting between him and then-Mossad chief David Barnea on the sidelines of an academic conference in Hungary.
The American newspaper reported that Israel made secret payments to Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad's spokesperson, and that Israeli agents met him several times before launching an operation named 'The Roaring Lion.'
The report added that Ahmadinejad’s residential complex was hit in an Israeli airstrike last February targeting his guards and armored vehicle before Mossad operatives relocated him to a secret safe house.
Ahmadinejad remained out of sight until he appeared at the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei a few days ago.
Subsequently, the New York Times reported, "The intelligence wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps detained the former president and placed him under house arrest," according to Iranian officials who spoke to the newspaper.