JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Mossad said Thursday it had uncovered and thwarted an Iranian plot to infiltrate foreign operatives into Israel to assassinate senior officials, detailing what it described as a global terror network directed by Tehran.

In an unusual public statement published by the Prime Minister’s Office on behalf of the agency, the Mossad said officers from Iran’s Intelligence Ministry recruited foreign nationals to advance attacks against senior Israeli figures inside the country. The ministry, working with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, has in recent years led a campaign of terrorism against Israeli and Jewish targets and has intensified efforts to strike within Israel itself, the statement said.

Iran’s method involved recruiting criminal proxy networks that activated individuals already in Israel or capable of entering the country, first to gather intelligence on targets and then to carry out attacks, according to the Mossad.

The agency credited advanced counterterrorism capabilities and close cooperation with intelligence and security services worldwide for disrupting dozens of Iranian attack networks in recent years. Those operations “saved many lives and enabled investigative and legal action against those involved in terrorism,” the statement said.

In the latest case, a France-based operative identified as Tharwat Ozkour, known as “Philip,” was allegedly responsible for recruiting an operational team of foreign nationals and preparing to infiltrate them into Israel. Philip was reportedly recruited by two criminal proxies, Baba Mahou-Zadeh Haji Jafan (“Babak”) and Mehmet Nedim Yigit (“Nedim”), who currently live in Iran under the protection of its Intelligence Ministry, the Mossad said. Both men also allegedly have links to drug lord Naji Sharifi Zindashti, whom the agency described as a criminal figure long used by Iranian intelligence to advance terrorist operations. Philip reportedly traveled to Iran several times to receive instructions, meet handlers and collect payment.

International investigations conducted jointly by the Mossad, Shin Bet and foreign intelligence services exposed the criminal proxy infrastructure and identified the Iranian officers directing it: Assadollah Behzad Ohsari, Vahid Masoumi, Mohammad-Hossein Zoghi and Hamid Ghasemi. The Mossad said Ohsari played a central role in Iran’s efforts to target Jewish and Israeli sites and was killed during the “Roaring Lion” war. Philip was separately expelled from France over his involvement in planning Iranian-directed terrorist activity.

Babak and Nedim continue to operate from Iran, according to the Mossad, working to activate terrorist cells and remaining of interest to intelligence services worldwide.