Sensitive Israeli documents obtained by Tehran should be unveiled soon, Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib told state TV on Sunday, describing them as a “treasure trove” which will strengthen Iran’s offensive capabilities.
Iranian state media reported on Saturday that Iranian intelligence agencies had obtained a large trove of sensitive Israeli documents. Khatib said these were related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and its relations with the United States, Europe and other countries, and to its defensive capabilities.
There was no immediate official comment from Israel.
It was not clear whether the information breach was linked to a reported hacking of an Israeli nuclear research centre last year which Tehran is only disclosing now amid heightened tensions over its nuclear programme.
“The transfer of this treasure trove was time-consuming and required security measures. Naturally, the transfer methods will remain confidential but the documents should be unveiled soon,” Khatib said, adding that in terms of volume, “talking of thousands of documents would be an understatement.”
In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli agents had seized a huge “archive” of Iranian documents that showed Tehran had done more nuclear work than previously known.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear programme. But Trump in April reportedly blocked a planned Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites in favour of negotiating a deal with Tehran.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was “100%” against Iran’s interests, rejecting a central U.S. demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Western powers say Iran is refining uranium to a high degree of fissile purity close to the level suitable for atomic bomb fuel. Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons.
Israeli analysts cast doubt on Iran’s claim
Israeli security experts have cast doubt on Tehran’s recent claims of obtaining sensitive Israeli intelligence as exaggerated or psychological warfare while Iran’s intelligence minister says the documents will soon be made public.
Asher Ben-Artzi, a former head of Israel’s Interpol, told Iran International, “I know that the relevant information is well-guarded in Israel and it does not seem to me that hackers can access it.”
He warned that the intelligence may not be as significant as claimed. “Iran wants to tell the world that their intelligence personnel are professionals, but they probably think that their use of disinformation will increase their achievements,” he said.
Intelligence analyst Ronen Solomon also said, “We don’t know if it’s something scientific or operational, and it could possibly be something like details of the supply chain. Nobody in Israel has confirmed this officially so it could also be a psychological operation.”
“Iran is attempting to replicate what Israel did to Tehran’s nuclear archives in 2018,” he said, referring to the Israeli intelligence operation that allegedly seized Iranian nuclear files from a warehouse in Tehran.
In 2018, Israel said it had stolen Iran’s nuclear documents including 55,000 pages and 55,000 digital files from a warehouse in Tehran’s Shourabad area through an intelligence operation.
Iran has since been accusing the UN nuclear watchdog of using those documents in its reports about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities.
RTeuters, Iran Int’l