Mossad Director Yossi Cohen warned against the Iranians "coasting into the Middle East undisturbed and with very large forces"
By TAMAR BEN-OZERUpdated: JANUARY 9, 2018 14:48Mossad director Yossi Cohen(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen spoke out at a Ministry of Finance conference Tuesday morning regarding the recent protests in Iran, according to Kan Radio. He stated that "Israel has eyes and ears there, too," and added that he would be "happy to see a social revolution in Iran."Cohen then warned that "the Iranians are coasting into the Middle East undisturbed and with very large forces, in a way that virtually creates an air and land corridor that pours fighters into the region in order to actualize the Iranian vision."Cohen gave his analysis on the Iranian motives for the demonstrations: "The Iranian citizen is crying out against the disappointing economic situation. President Rouhani, in the public's opinion, hasn't been successful at improving the state of the economy and the society." In his opinion, "a revolution might happen tomorrow or in the future - but they are facing forces that are no less than death squads, against anybody who tries to raise their head in Iran."The Mossad chief finished by commenting on Israel's relationship with the United States: "Our cooperation with the US is exceptionally good, and it is only getting better. The US, over the past year, has been changing its policies, and we are beginning to see dramatic changes in the American understanding of strategic threats.""We're seeing a positive shift, one that could possibly take into account more of Israel's security interests," Cohen claimed. "The well-being of the entire world is threatened in the shadow of Iran's dramatically extremist ambitions, and that it has the ability and the will to employ terror forces. For us, this is a positive change."Cohen's comments come amid weeks of unrest in Iran. According to Iranian officials, 22 people have died and over 1000 have been arrested due to nearly two weeks of ongoing protests across the Islamic Republic.This past October, Cohen declared that Iran was the primary target of the Mossad's actions, as it retains its nuclear ambitions and continues to threaten Israel through proxies in Syria and Lebanon, and continues to support Hamas.
