A plan developed by Israel and the Mossad intelligence agency to topple the Iranian regime could still succeed if given time, but it has not been carried out to completion due to the United States’ decision in April to halt the war against the Islamic Republic, a former senior Mossad official told Channel 12 on Saturday.

“We didn’t try all the way — we were stopped along the way,” said the ex-Mossad official, identified only as “Aleph,” who retired last year. “This is a multi-stage plan that has been prepared over time and has been paused for the time being. In this war, we went out with a partner, a strategic power that at some point stopped the fighting, but these stages started and developed, including the use of Kurdish partners, with the goal of replacing the regime.”

According to Channel 12, Aleph served in the Mossad for almost 30 years, rising to senior leadership, until he retired last year after realizing he would not be considered for its top position. In December, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed his military secretary, Roman Gofman, as the new Mossad director to replace David Barnea. Gofman entered his role on Tuesday, after months of legal challenges and controversies over his experience.

Asked about a New York Times report according to which CIA Director John Ratcliffe and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Israel’s plan for toppling the Iranian regime as “farcical” and as “bullshit,” after Netanyahu and Barnea presented it to US President Donald Trump, Aleph pointed out that the US........

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