Mossad, IDF and ISA Joint Announcement: The Fight to Thwart Terrorism Continues – Exposure of a Secret Iranian Terrorist Network behind an Assassination and Terrorism Campaign Targeting Senior Israeli Officials and Strategic Objectives in Israel and around the World

Jerusalem, Israel - Apr. 20, 2026 - The Mossad, the IDF, and the Shin Bet are, for the first time, exposing a secret Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) terrorist network, mission of which is to strike at senior Israeli officials and strategic infrastructure globally.

This disclosure comes against the backdrop of a series of targeted strikes carried out by the Israel Air Force (IAF) during Operation Roaring Lion, which resulted in the elimination of senior officials and key operatives within this clandestine terrorist network. This effort was accompanied by intensive Mossad activity and its partners among international security and law enforcement agencies, peaking in extensive arrests and investigations of terrorist cell members acting on behalf of the network worldwide.

Several weeks ago in Azerbaijan, a terrorist infrastructure was neutralized. It had been promoting attempts to strike a strategic target, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, as well as several Jewish targets and institutions in the country, including the Israeli Embassy, the synagogue in Baku, and Jewish community leaders.

Members of the operational cell were arrested by Azerbaijani authorities while in possession of explosive drones and fragmentation charges that had been smuggled into the country. To realize their intentions, the cell worked to gather intelligence on targets using various methods, including physical surveillance and photography, all under direct orders from their handlers in Iran.

This exposure, alongside strenuous intelligence investigation and operational activities on the ground, led to the uncovering of the secret terrorist network that has been established within the IRGC and its chain of command.

The head of the secret attacks network was led by Rahman Moqadam, who also served as the Head of the Special Operations Division (Unit 4000) within the IRGC Intelligence Organization. Moqadam was struck by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) at the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion. Unit 4000 is responsible for promoting and directing terrorist activities outside of Iran against Israeli and Western targets, as well as attempting to smuggle advanced weaponry into Israeli territory. These activities were carried out under the guidance, and knowledge, of senior IRGC official Majid Khademi, who headed the IRGC Intelligence Organization, who was also eliminated by the IDF during Operation Roaring Lion.

As head of the mechanism, Moqadam advanced global terrorist efforts in recent years. This activity included recruitment and training of terrorist operative both inside and outside Iran to collect intelligence on senior Israeli political figures, members of the Israeli security community, and military sites (both Israeli and Western).

Under Moqadam’s command, a central figure named Mohsen Suri who served as a primary operator and leader in the secret attacks network, while simultaneously holding a senior position in Unit 4000. Suri was also eliminated during the war in an IAF strike, guided by intelligence from the Mossad and ISA, who located the emergency safe house where he had been staying, alongside other IRGC officials.
Suri took a significant part in the network’s activities outside Iran, participating in numerous operational rounds where he met with local terrorist cells to direct field missions.

Alongside Suri, other IRGC officers operated across Europe, the Middle East, and Azerbaijan. Notable among them is Mehdi Yeka-Dehqan, known as "The Doctor," who led terror efforts in Azerbaijan. 

Dehqan has been known since January 2026 following the arrest of an operational infrastructure in Turkey. Under his guidance, this cell promoted the smuggling of explosive drones from Iran to Turkey and then to Cyprus, as well as intelligence collection on the Incirlik US Air Force Base in Adana. Similar missions targeting Western bases have been exposed previously, such as during Operation Rising Lion, in which Azeri nationals were arrested on suspicion of gathering intelligence on Israeli targets, and military bases in Cyprus and Crete.

In recent years, the Iranian regime has utilized various security and intelligence agencies to promote dozens of attack vectors against Israeli, Jewish, and Western targets.

Operation Roaring Lion has led to a further unbridling of Iranian aggression in the region, including efforts to expand their capabilities. In this context, it is known that personnel within the network are also operating in cooperation with additional axis elements, such as pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, to carry out planned attacks.

Despite the Iranian strategy, which views terrorist activity as a complementary arm to offensive military efforts against Israel, it is evident that the thwarting of terrorist infrastructures challenges Iran's ability to use this tool effectively in accordance with its aspirations.

The exposure of the attack networks operated by the Iranian regime has proven time and again its distinct failure to create a space of deniability; it expresses the collapse of the Iranian mode of operation, which strives to carry out terrorism in isolation from Iran in order to avoid the political, legal, and economic consequences it might otherwise pay.

The Mossad, IDF and ISA, together with their partners in intelligence and security agencies worldwide, will continue to act tirelessly and with determination to thwart terrorist threats in Israel and abroad by Iran and its proxies.