Israel's chilling 'escape' warning in phone call to Iranian general

An Israeli intelligence officer had a chilling warning during a phone call with a senior Iranian general as tensions flared in the Middle East.

Israel launched its first strikes against Iran on June 13, killing top military leaders and nuclear scientists, and in the hours after the attack intelligence operatives launched a covert campaign to intimidate senior officials. According to three people familiar with the operation, the aim was to divide and destabilise Tehran's regime. It has emerged that people working for Israel's security who speak Iran's primary language, Farsi, called senior officials warning them that they would also die unless they declared that they no longer supported the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader.

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More than 20 Iranians in positions of power were contacted, it has been claimed. In a call obtained by The Washington Post, an Israeli intelligence operative warned a senior Iranian general he had 12 hours to escape with his family if he wanted to avoid death. "Listen carefully. I’m calling from a country that – I'll explain to you. Listen carefully," he said.

"I'm calling from a country that, two hours ago, sent Bagheri, Salami, Shamkhani, one by one, to hell. I can advise you now, you have 12 hours to escape with your wife and child. Otherwise, you're on our list right now. All of you, one by one, are on the list that I am looking at, and you are our next targets.

"We will hit you, your family, your children, everyone, with the dirt. I only called to tell you, while there's time. I will give you a reprieve. Like I said, 12 hours from this very minute that I spoke to you, you have time to escape. If not, you have no one to blame but yourself."

Installing fear into the general, he added: "We're closer to you than your own neck vein. Put this in your head. May God protect you." After being given the ultimatum, the general - a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - was told he had 12 hours to make a video disassociating himself from the Iranian government.

After asking how he should send the video, he was told by the Mossad agent that he would receive a Telegram ID. Mossad is Israel's national intelligence agency. It's not clear whether such a video was made or sent and according to one of the sources who spoke to The Washington Post, the unidentified general is believed to be still alive and in Iran.

A second person said the main goal of the operation was to deter and confuse the Tehran leadership. The conflict between Iran and Israel continued up until today, when Donald Trump called for a ceasefire - and both countries eventually appeared to agree, despite initially violating it.

"CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!" Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. "It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately six hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for twelve hours, at which point the WAR will be considered, ENDED!

"Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, 'THE 12 DAY WAR'.

"This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."

Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed Trump's announcement of a ceasefire and urged both countries to respect it so that the fighting can stop. "The people of the two countries have already suffered too much," he tweeted. "It is my sincere hope that this ceasefire can be replicated in the other conflicts in the region."

While the conflict with Iran now appears to have ended, Israel continues bombing Gaza, and over the past 12 days it has killed at least 870 Palestinians. Since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023, more than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel - but the real death toll is expected to be much higher as this number doesn't account for people under the rubble, who are presumed dead.