EXCLUSIVE: Decisive US action is essential to bring down Iranian regime—massive protest movement inspiring but not enough—former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen tells ALL ISRAEL NEWS
Real-life Jewish James Bond served as a spy deep inside Iran for Israeli intelligence
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – No one in Israel better understands the Iranian regime – or has spent more time inside Iran as a spy – or played a more decisive role in weakening the regime and destroying Tehran’s capacity to build thermonuclear warheads that could annihilate the United States and Israel than Yossi Cohen.
From the age of 22, Cohen was recruited into the Mossad, Israel’s legendary spy agency, and was sent on top secret, deep cover, and highly dangerous missions into enemy countries all over the world, including repeatedly into Iran.
Cohen actively stole Iranian secrets while quietly, clandestinely, persuading one Iranian official after another to risk his or her life by betraying Tehran and spying for the Jewish state.
From 2013 to 2016, Cohen served as Israel’s 9th National Security Advisor.
He worked side-by-side with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to aggressively oppose and thwart the Iranian nuclear weapons program and warn the world not to let the world’s most dangerous regime build, buy, or steal the world’s most dangerous weapons.
Then, from January 2016 to June 2021, Cohen served as head of the Mossad.
In that post, he pulled off some of the most dangerous and dramatic operations in the history of the agency, including stealing Iran’s nuclear crown jewels – literally stealing Iran’s actual plans to build nuclear bombs and warheads – from deep inside the capital of Tehran.
YOSSI COHEN HAS WRITTEN A SPELL-BINDING MEMOIR OF HIS NEARLY FOUR DECADES IN THE MOSSAD
We first met for coffee about a year ago for a long, off-the-record, get-to-know-each-other meeting.
Now he’s written a spell-binding book, THE SWORD OF FREEDOM – a memoir of his life 38 years in the Mossad as an Israeli spy, a real-life Jewish James Bond – that I could not put down and I highly recommend.
A few days ago, Cohen agreed to sit down for his first-ever, exclusive, interview on THE ROSENBERG REPORT and ALL ISRAEL NEWS.
We will air Part One of our conversation this Thursday night at 9pm on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most watched Christian television network in the U.S.
But given how rapidly events are unfolding inside Iran, I wanted to share some of his unique perspective immediately.
ISRAEL’S FORMER TOP SPY SITS DOWN TO TALK ON THE RECORD
Among the many topics we discussed, I asked Yossi Cohen how he assesses the massive and growing protests all across Iran – what he calls a “Counter-Revolution” to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that brought down the Shah and put the mullahs and ayatollahs in control – and whether he thinks it’s going to be enough to bring down the regime of the so-called “Supreme Leader” Ali Khamenei.
“I think that the Counter-Revolution has to really come from within Iran,” the former Mossad chief told me.
He said he’s very encouraged that “there’s another round of demonstrators flooding into the streets of Tehran and the Yazd and Isfahan and all over.”
“We like what they do,” he said, noting he strongly supports the liberation of the Iranian people, as do most Israelis.
That said, Cohen doesn’t believe this massive and growing protest movement is enough.
“Do I believe that Iranians alone could topple this regime? I don't,” Cohen told me.
“It is not that I decry what they do,” he was quick to say. “It is not that I criticize.”
To the contrary, he praised the Iranian people for being “as strong against this regime as somebody could be.”
REPORT: 12,000 IRANIANS HAVE BEEN MURDERED IN PAST TWO WEEKS — NOW WHAT?
“But a popular uprising alone might not be enough?” I asked.
Unfortunately, no, he said.
The Iranian security forces are “conducting brutal fights” against the protesters.
“There are many casualties and more will come.”
“Iranians, good citizens, will die” in their fight for freedom “and they have the right to do that.”
Most media reports are putting the number of Iranians killed by the government so far at around 2,000.
But Iran International — the media arm of the Iranian opposition — stated on Tuesday that more than 12,000 protesters have been murdered.
At the moment, this cannot be independently confirmed but clearly the situation is going from bad to worse.
COHEN: AMERICAN ACTION ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO BRINGING DOWN THE REGIME
To truly succeed, Cohen said, it will take serious, decisive American military action.
“We have to support them, of course.”
“If America is considering or helping the Iranian regime or countering the Iranian regime, I'm absolutely in favor of doing it.”
In fact, Cohen added, “I think that only with the help of the USA, it may be possible” to overthrow the so-called Supreme Leader.
WILL TRUMP TAKE ACTION AGAINST TEHRAN?
I agree with Yossi Cohen’s assessment.
Yes, the protest movement in Iran is massive and getting larger by the day.
Praise God.
But Cohen is right.
Alone, this is probably not enough to force the regime to collapse.
But if the American military, or Israeli military – or both – attack and destroy key Iranian government buildings, assassinate top leaders, and hit key command-and-control centers, this just might weaken the regime enough.
It might frighten the regime enough.
And maybe – just maybe – it will persuade Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his inner circle, and the heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and other top military and paramilitary leaders to flee the country to Moscow or Beijing or wherever, the way Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – the Demon of Damascus – and his inner circle fled when the Syrian government was overrun and overthrown in December 2024.
Will President Trump really take action against Tehran?
I believe he will — and I believe it will be soon.
WHO WILL LEAD IRAN AFTER THIS REGIME?
Of course, bringing down the regime is only half the battle.
The next question is: Who might lead Iran if and when the regime falls?
If other radicals take over in Tehran, what’s the point?
We need moderates to seize control.
What does Yossi Cohen see coming after this regime, if it indeed falls?
More on that tomorrow on ALL ISRAEL NEWS as I share more of my interview with the former Mossad chief.
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Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
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