How Israel Built a Secret Drone Army Inside Iran That Humiliated the Mullahs and Crippled Their Nuclear Program
Israeli officials have confirmed that Mossad built and operated a secret drone base inside Iran, enabling precision strikes that crippled Iran’s nuclear program and eliminated top IRGC commanders.
On June 13, 2025, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a sweeping air and drone strike campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, military assets, and senior leadership. With over 200 aircraft and 330 munitions hitting more than 100 targets, it was the largest attack on Iran since the 1980s. But beyond its scale, the brilliance of the operation lay in its covert dimension: Israeli intelligence had secretly positioned drone systems inside Iran, enabling precision strikes that paralyzed air defenses before the first jets arrived.
The operation followed a three-pronged approach that defense analysts describe as a paradigm shift in modern warfare:
Phase 1: Pre-Positioned Assets Activation
Israeli commandos had embedded precision-guided drones and explosives inside Iran months earlier, including near Tehran. These dormant systems, hidden from radar due to their internal placement, were activated to strike air-defense radars and communications nodes—overwhelming Iran’s early-warning systems with low-observable threats and triggering what planners call “operational dislocation.”
Phase 2: Vehicle-Based Strike Systems
Concealed within civilian vehicles across Iran, Israeli-embedded launch platforms fired powerful munitions at key defensive targets. This tactic neutralized air defenses from within, clearing the path for incoming aircraft.
Phase 3: Conventional Air Campaign
Over 200 Israeli fighter jets—many F-35 Adirs with standoff munitions—conducted precision strikes on more than 100 nuclear and military sites. With Iran’s command systems disrupted and defenses degraded, Israeli aircraft operated with near impunity.
The campaign was the product of years of sustained intelligence preparation and real-time ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) dominance. A senior Israeli security official said, “The Mossad worked with a huge number of people, a mass of agents deep inside Iran, operating at the highest level of penetration imaginable. Some of these agents were retrained as commando fighters to carry out mission-critical operations.”
One of the most remarkable elements was Israel’s ability to embed autonomous weapons systems directly inside Iran. Mossad operatives established covert drone and missile launch sites near key military assets, including a confirmed base near Tehran. These internal assets struck surface-to-surface missile launchers overnight, eliminating threats before Israel’s main assault began. Officials now regard this internal strike capability as one of the boldest and most effective features of the operation.
Among those killed were IRGC commander Hossein Salami, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC Aerospace Force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and nuclear scientists Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. Most of the IRGC Air Force leadership was wiped out at an underground command center—a decapitation strike that eliminated decades of institutional knowledge in a single blow.
Critical nuclear sites, including Natanz, Fordow, and Khondab, were heavily damaged. Strikes spanned key provinces such as Tehran, Kermanshah, Tabriz, Esfahan, and Hamadan. Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed the attacks set Iran’s nuclear program back by years, though this remains to be independently verified.
The strikes also targeted Iran’s critical energy infrastructure, including the South Pars gas field and Fajr Jam refinery—signaling Israel’s willingness to hit both military and economic lifelines.
Operation Rising Lion stands on the shoulders of a long record of meticulously planned Mossad operations. In the 1970s, Operation Bayonet, also known as “Wrath of God”, systematically targeted Black September operatives responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre, eliminating them across Europe and the Middle East over two decades. In September 2024, Mossad executed a cutting-edge supply-chain sabotage: thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies, covertly modified with explosives, were remotely detonated across Lebanon and Syria, killing dozens and paralyzing militant communications.
Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Mossad accelerated high-value strikes. On January 2, 2024, a drone strike in Beirut killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri alongside senior military commanders. Then on April 1, 2024, an airstrike on Iran’s consulate annex in Damascus killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top Quds Force general, and much of Iran’s IRGC command in Syria.
These high-impact missions culminated in Operation Rising Lion, a campaign that redefined modern conflict through deep infiltration, autonomous strike capabilities, and synchronized real-time execution. Analysts now cite it as a model for future operations—demonstrating how precision technologies and human intelligence can dismantle hardened targets faster than any traditional assault. Reviving the spirit of World War II–era “ungentlemanly warfare,” Israel has replaced sabotage teams and bomber raids with stealth drones and fifth-generation fighters, ushering in a new standard for strategic surprise.
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