In a startling revelation, former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has alleged that the head of a secret unit responsible for countering Israeli intelligence operations within Iran was an Israeli spy.

“Israel organized complex operations inside Iran, gaining access to sensitive information. In Iran, this remains largely unacknowledged. The individual in charge of the unit against Israel was an Israeli agent,” Ahmadinejad told CNN Turk.

Ahmadinejad claimed that by 2021, it became evident that the most senior official in Iran overseeing efforts against Mossad’s activities was, in fact, working for the Israeli agency.

He went on to add an additional 20 agents within the Iranian intelligence team who were allegedly working for the Israeli spy agency.

Ahmadinejad alleged that such double agents provided Israel with crucial information regarding Iran’s nuclear programme. He accused them of being involved in the theft of Iranian nuclear documents in 2018 and the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists.

Such revelations follow reports suggesting that an Iranian spy had informed Israel about the whereabouts of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah prior to his death in an airstrike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut.

Ahmadinejad has echoed alarming assertions made by ex-Iranian intelligence minister Ali Younesi, claiming that Israeli spies have infiltrated the highest levels of the Iranian government.

Younesi previously stated that “the Mossad has infiltrated many government departments in the last 10 years, to such a degree that all the country’s top officials should fear for their lives.”

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His comment comes amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Iran, which sponsors Hezbollah, has vowed to retaliate against Israel, raising fears that war could spill across borders throughout the region, despite efforts by the United States, Israel’s closest and most powerful ally, to contain it.

In the latest announced killing of a senior Hezbollah figure, Israel said it had assassinated Muhammad Jaafar Qasir, describing him as a commander in charge of weapons transfers from Iran and its affiliates.