Israel-Iran covert conflict

In late June 2026 Israel’s newly appointed Mossad director Roman Gofman travelled to Washington for secret talks with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and senior White House officials, focusing on the Iran‑Israel confrontation, Tehran’s nuclear programme and coordination of planned U.S. air strikes, including intelligence on a deep‑underground site dubbed “Pickaxe Mountain.”

By early August, internal fallout emerged when Mossad dismissed its intelligence directorate head and the head of its Iran desk after a covert regime‑change plot failed to materialise. The operation, reportedly code‑named “Puss in Boots,” was a joint Mossad‑CIA effort that envisioned Kurdish ground forces entering Iran under extensive Israeli and U.S. air cover, backing from Iranian minority groups, and the installation of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a new leader. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have discussed the scheme with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The dismissals were presented as a mutual agreement and part of a broader restructuring; the two officials are expected to remain within Mossad in different roles. No official confirmation of the plan has been provided, underscoring both the ongoing covert tension with Iran and internal accountability within Israel’s foreign‑intelligence service.