Book Reviewed: Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination – and Secret Diplomacy by Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar

Mossad’s promise Iran has two major goals; to become a nuclear-weapon state and seek the destruction of Israel. These are essential requirements of ayatollahs for their belief in an Islamic ideology and national glory in the Islamic world. Israel's elite spy agency Mossad have made foiling Iran's nuclear program a top priority of their organization. It has led them to measures that includes sabotage operations on nuclear installations, assassinations of its scientists, diplomatic overtures to nations in the region, and the spectacular theft of its nuclear archive in 2018 from an Iranian site. Yossi Cohen, the head of the Mossad from 2016 to 2021, responsible for these operations is the main focus of this book. He describes the hybrid operations, infiltrations into Iranian territory, cyberattacks and drones to sabotage Iran's nuclear sites, and working with the United States in the killing of Iranian military commanders. The diplomatic success of Mossad and Israeli government led to the establishment of the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and finally Sudan, a country that was extremely hostile to Israel. The authors also describe Iran's reactions to hit back against Israel, including terrorist attacks on Israeli targets, cyber strikes, and the use of its proxies. The Iranian strategy has been to surround Israel with a ring of fire. Israel's goal has been to prevent that ring from closing around it. Iran arms Hezbollah with precision-guided missiles, and arm Hamas, it destabilized Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Iraq. The biggest highlight of this book is the fascinating account of how a team of Mossad agents pulled off one of the most spectacular exploits in the history of espionage on the eve of January 31, 2018. After months of meticulous planning, endless hours of sophisticated electronic surveillance, and the risky infiltration of Israeli agents into Iran, the agents broke into the secret warehouse where Iran's nuclear archive containing the full record of its efforts. The heist was one of the most sensational of many Israeli operations against Iran. This operation provided vital intelligence for the Mossad in planning future strikes at the heart of Tehran's nuclear program. The archive's contents revealed that Iran had been lying for years to the international community about its nuclear program. This is the biggest embarrassment for a Muslim country and a victory for the Jewish state. This book describes all challenges Israel has faced being surrounded by the Arab world that are united in its hatred of Isarel. This is a full account of the covert operations conducted by the Mossad. The account here does not shy away from anything to show Mossad's tactical successes in achieving a strategic victory. As of April 2023, when this book was completed, over twenty years had passed since experts predicted that Iran was close to making nuclear warheads, but they are still farther away according to Mossad. This long delay represents a significant success for Israel's elite spy agency. Mossad declares that Iran will never have nuclear weapons, and that is Mossad's promise to Israel.