Iran's intelligence ministry issued a lengthy statement asserting alleged successes amid a punishing 12-day war with Israel last month which it said scotched elaborate regime change plans by an array of foreign and domestic enemies.
The ministry said it had thwarted assassinations plots against 35 officials, conducted raids and made arrests targeting the Baha'i religious minority, evangelical Christians, foreign-baed dissidents, Sunni Muslim jihadists, separatists, monarchists and media organizations acting in league with Israel.
Hundreds of military personnel, nuclear scientists and civilians were killed in Israel's surprise campaign last month including top commanders, in major intelligence lapses the statement appeared aimed at addressing.
"What happened during the 12-day imposed was a war plan with planning and full-scale utilization of combined military, security, intelligence, cognitive warfare, disruptive actions, assassination, sabotage, destabilization and incitement of internal unrest," the statement issued on Monday said.
The multifarious plots, it added, were "aiming for the delusion of subjugating and forcing Iran to surrender and overthrowing the sacred Islamic Republic,” it added.
Israel was able to launch deadly attack drones at senior military Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) leaders from inside the country, killing the armed forces chief of staff, IRGC leader and the elite unit's commanders of aerospace and military operations.
An Iranian analyst alleged in a newspaper interview last week that Israel caused over upon activation during the war last month and that it had hacked the country’s entire air defense system.
The daughter of a top Iranian military commander assassinated by Israel last month said her father was chased down and killed by Israeli agents in a hot pursuit in Tehran and not an airstrike as originally reported.
Not offering explanations for any lapses, the ministry said it "detected and neutralized" Israeli plots to assassinate 23 senior civilian and military officials during the conflict and 13 similar attempts in the months leading up to it.
'Thugs, rebels'
The ministry alleged that it had carried out successful intelligence operations inside Israel, saying its activities were ongoing.
"Numerous and varied offensive and intelligence measures (aggressive espionage) were carried out in various cities of the occupied territories against the interests of the Zionist regime and the criminal gang that rules it."
Israeli authorities say they have uncovered more than 25 cases of Iranian recruitment over the past year, with more than 35 people indicted on serious security charges.
"One of the approaches implemented was to recruit intelligence and operational agents from the regime’s innermost military and security layers," the ministry added. "The larger and more sensitive part of the missions is still ongoing."
The ministry said it had faced down threats from street thugs to the NATO alliance.
"The enemy sought to activate criminals, diverse terrorists in various guises, deploy awaiting spies, conduct assassinations and sabotage, and to mobilize mercenaries, monarchist remnants, thugs, rebel groups, and dormant hypocrite cells to inflame tensions, provoke dissatisfaction and professional protests, and turn conditions into uncontrolled street riots and chaos”, the statement said.
"We faced not only the petty Zionist regime but also the Western intelligence-security NATO,” it added.
A June 23 Israeli air attack on Evin Prison - known for housing dissidents and foreign detainees - was aimed at catalyzing a nationwide revolt, the ministry alleged. Iranian authorities said 80 people were killed in the attack and Amnesty International called for it to be investigated as a war crime.
“We detected and fully neutralized a Mossad-directed monarchist plot to launch and dispatch armed operational teams from across the country to Tehran on June 22 for terrorist actions the next day (during the Evin prison bombing) targeting nearby military and law enforcement centers," the ministry said.
“This monarchist-Zionist scenario was thwarted by identifying involved agents, striking enemy operational teams, and arresting 122 mercenaries across 23 provinces before any terrorist action in Tehran."
