Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination - and Secret Diplomacy - to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East

by Ilan Evyatar, Ilan Evyatar

The remarkable story of how Israel used sabotage, assassination, cyberwar--and diplomacy--to thwart Iran's development of nuclear weapons, in the process forging a new Middle East by uniting with Sunni Arab nations to stop their common enemy.

Authors Bob and Evyatar describe how Israel has used cyberwarfare, targeted assassinations, and sabotage of Iranian facilities to great effect, sometimes in cooperation with the United States. In doing so Israel has managed to transform the politics of the Middle East, culminating in the Abraham Accords of 2020. No longer do Arab states such as Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and, most importantly, Saudi Arabia, insist on a solution to the Palestinian problem before cooperating with Israel. Now, united in their opposition to Iran, which has funded and even trained Shi'a terrorists, Israel and these Arab states are cooperating as Israel undermines Iran's nuclear program.

Bob and Evyatar reveal how Israel has used documents secretly stolen from Tehran to show the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency how Iran has repeatedly violated the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement and lied about its nuclear weapons program. Drawing from interviews with confidential sources in Mossad, Israel's equivalent to the CIA, the authors tell the inside story of the tumultuous, and often bloody, history of how Israel has managed to outmaneuver Iran--so far.

Genres: Israel, Nonfiction, History, Middle East, Iran, Politics, Military Fiction

1 pages, Audio CD

First published September 26, 2023

Reviews

[None Ofyourbusiness Loves Israel · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the banks of the Tigris to the terminals of Tel Aviv, Target Tehran is a classified ledger of every coded plan, blown fuse, and vanishing scientist involved in Israel's campaign to stop Iran’s atomic ambitions. What begins with a woman, fluent in Farsi, equipped with an engineering degree, and posing as a local wife, ends with half a ton of stolen files hurtling through Iran’s badlands, smuggled past Ayatollahs and border guards with the help of drug routes usually reserved for crystal meth.

The heist of Iran’s nuclear archive from a dusty warehouse in Shirobad in 2018 embarrassed the Iranian regime and lobotomized years of clandestine effort. The Mossad, long caricatured in pulp thrillers, appears here as a real-life apparatus of daring, aided by MEK defectors, CIA confidants, and a female agent whose very walk was rehearsed to avoid suspicion. They burned through vaults with 3,600-degree blowtorches, eluded detection by repurposing smuggling corridors, and streamed evidence live into the Mossad’s Tel Aviv war room while a lunar eclipse cloaked their exit. Back in Tehran, Khamenei paced with one of his 170 antique walking sticks, unaware that Israel had emptied his locked vaults and filled Washington’s ears.

Each Mossad operation, whether assassinating Mohsen Fakhrizadeh with a remote-controlled machine gun or decoying Iranian missiles into the Syrian desert, functions as a sacred act of sabotage driven by the sanctity of survival.

The assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s military kingmaker, was no accident but a high-voltage result of triangulated surveillance, Mossad strategy, and Washington’s willingness to play executioner.

Israel's role in the Abraham Accords, often sanitized as diplomatic alignment, appears here in its full cloak-and-dagger detail: the Mossad greased the wheels of normalization with flash drives showing the Gulf states exactly what Iran had planned for them, atom by atom.

We follow Meir Dagan’s "divine intervention" doctrine from the shadows of Deir ez-Zor to covert sabotage in Arak. We see how Yossi Cohen, dashing and deadly, transformed the agency from old-school espionage to cyber-augmented warfare, coordinating drone strikes in broad daylight and cultivating friendships with Arab generals over encrypted coffee chats.

Here, Jewish existence is soldered to centrifuges, inscribed in dossiers, encrypted in hard drives spirited through Tehran. “On no account shall we permit an enemy to develop weapons of mass destruction against the people of Israel,” proclaimed the Begin Doctrine. Israel didn’t merely recite it, it redrafted it in uranium ink.

The facts defy fiction: Mossad once planted malware so sly it spun Iranian centrifuges into mechanical self-harm while reporting normal readings to Tehran. In Sudan, a rogue shipment of rockets vanished after a ‘lightning strike’ from drones that left no wreckage but scorched footprints. One operative was exfiltrated by helicopter in a maneuver so delicate that even the IDF didn't learn the route until after touchdown.

One agent posed as an electrician in a Tehran warehouse while smuggling 55,000 files under the watchful eye of a guard who was, quite literally, bribed with cake. Another operative entered Iran disguised as a devout Muslim couple’s wife, her engineering degree hidden under a headscarf, her pistol tucked just below the Quran in her handbag.

The Israelis once practiced for the nuclear archive heist using identical Iranian safes smuggled into Israel, which they hacked open repeatedly like a particularly vengeful locksmith Olympics. In one operation, a Mossad mole inside Iran’s nuclear elite named “Nasiri” was so close to the top that he once recorded cabinet meetings, possibly while sipping tea.

During another escape, Mossad agents avoided Iranian drones by blending in with drug smugglers trafficking shisheh meth across the Azerbaijan border, camouflaging nuclear secrets in the same route used for narcotics. And when Yossi Cohen, ever the Mossad dandy, met Pompeo, the first thing the CIA director said was: “You’re even better looking than in our surveillance photos”—diplomatic flattery, or an intelligence pickup line, who can say?

Israel outsmarts annihilation with code, cunning, and cold nerves. Target Tehran is essential because it shows what “never again” looks like when rewritten in Farsi, encrypted on hard drives, and driven through hostile borders at dawn.

[A. Housewife · Rating 4 out of 5]

By mostly sheer coincidence (that's when the reserved book came in to the library), I started reading Target Tehran 3 days before Iran attacked Israel. I'm not sure how much is slanted (though Bibi Netanyahu's decisions are looked at pretty critically and the question is frequently asked openly if his decisions were productive or destructive). The question of diplomacy vs. threat and in what proportions is asked over and over.

I am stunned by the sheer DECADES that things have been going on secretly underneath the surface in terms of missions, work on diplomacy, in the attempts to prevent Iran from being nuclear capable. I found the diplomatic strategems and how they played out and continue to play out incredibly fascinating.

I have always felt that politics (and its puppet hand, economics) are too complex and have too many factors for me to grasp well. In recent years I have a profound lack of trust of any news providers and feel that things are too party-lined for me to believe them. I certainly have no idea about the complex politics in Israel and the frequent elections and the different factions and opinions. Nor do I feel that the writers of this book are objective, though they do make an effort to interview critics and present criticisms.

But at the moment, whenever anyone opines anything about Iran, I wonder if they have the information in this book. This book vastly widens the scope of Middle East politics and what is going on.

[Martin, I stand with ISRAEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mossad is truly a formidable organization. I was not aware of all the damage Israel’s Mossad has inflicted on Iran’s nuclear program. If Iran manages to develop a nuclear bomb, Iran will become toast. I have no doubt.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeply-sourced contemporary book about (1) the Iran nuclear agreement (i.e., the JCPOA) and Israel’s ongoing shadow war with Iran in its efforts to go nuclear, (2) the Abraham Accords that Israel has made with the UAE and other moderate Sunni states, and (3) Israel’s ongoing efforts to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia and MBS. It is current up to April 2023, and it provides you with the deep background and framework to be able to competently read between the lines of current events.

The book listed a battery (ha!) of tactical details — things like Israel and Iran’s specific weapons purchases from USA and Russia respectively, the types of advanced centrifuges Iran is building, the levels of uranium enrichment Iran has achieved, etc. — and then explained their significance so that mere humanities plebes like myself could catch up.

The book is deeply pro-Israel, but it didn’t rankle me too much since it didn’t really get into Palestine stuff. I’m pretty firmly rooted in Israel’s camp in its efforts against Iran. The book does seem to objectively present the more limited policy debates both among Israelis and also between Israel and the U.S. If I could guess at a bias, I’d say the authors seem to like Yossi Cohen, dislike Bibi, and think Biden is too soft on Iran, but then again none of that is too surprising.

I didn’t catch any underlying thesis. Just super up-to-date info and a summary of the support and critiques for different Israeli and US positions.

3.5 hesitantly rounded up. I’d feel more confident in that rating if I knew more about these particular sub-niches.

[skip thurnauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I requested this book about a month ago and started reading it after the Hamas raid on Israeli settlements. Like many people, I was surprised that Israeli Mossad and U.S. intelligence agencies were unprepared for the Hamas incursion and the murders of hundreds of civilians. I’m even more shocked after reading “Target Tehran”, a book about Israel’s use of sabotage, assassination, and cyber warfare against it’s greatest enemy, Iran. Probably the most significant and dramatic escapade described in the book was Israel’s theft of tons of nuclear secrets, stolen from a secret Iranian storage facility. The stolen documents showed how for years Iran had lied, circumvented inspections, and violated agreements. Stories of cyber warfare and assassinations, while not as dramatic, clearly delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions. David Barnea, a former Mossad leader vowed, “Iran will not have nuclear weapons, not in the coming years, not ever. That is my promise, that is Mossad’s promise.” After finishing the book, I revisited my earlier quandary, how Israel missed the signs of Hamas’ bloody raid. Perhaps they were so focused on Iran, they missed the planning of their closer neighbors, Hamas and Hezbollah. Maybe a future book will dissect the colossal oversight.

[Tom Glaser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, very detailed history of Israel's decades-long efforts to thwart the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon, but the book might have benefited from more attentive editing. For instance, the authors repeat at least a dozen times that later-stage enrichment is easier and faster than early-stage enrichment. They also make repeated references to Mossad Director Yossi Cohen's sartorial fastidiousness.

The book was completed in April 2023 and published a month before Hamas attacked Israel. That act of aggression, as well as the recent direct military engagement with Iran, make the book less current than it might have been if events hadn't unfolded so quickly. Still, Target Tehran provides a great deal of insight into the shortcomings of the JCPOA nuclear deal that the US and several other major powers negotiated in 2015. It also goes into great depth on the Mossad's amazing "burglary" of the Iranian nuclear archives and the discovery of irrefutable proof that the Iranian regime was cheating. The Iranian documentation arguably justified Trump's withdrawal from the agreement during his first term and his decision in June 2025 to drop "bunker busters" on Fordow and Natanz and hit Isfahan with cruise missiles.

The book gives the impression that the Iranian regime is thoroughly compromised and incapable of overcoming its vulnerabilities. The events of 2025 seem to validate this perspective.

[Gamespacenl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well reported and accessible read on the Israel/Iran covert war(s) written by Israeli journalists.

[Naim Peress · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that chronicles Israel’s secret war against Iran and the efforts that led to Israel’s peace treaties known as the Abraham Accords. Written like a novel, the Mossad directors Meir Dagan, Tamir Pardo and Yossi Cohen shine not only as top spies but as diplomats as well. These men spearheaded the 15-20 year effort by Israel to forge intelligence, business and finally, diplomatic ties with the Gulf Arab states. Here is also the inside story of one of Israel’s most daring espionage operations, the 2018 theft of Iran’s nuclear archive in the heart of Teheran. Definitely worth reading.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overview of the covert war between Israel and Iran over the past 25 years with the objective of the former to prevent the latter developing nuclear weapons. Also covers related diplomatic efforts to build a coalition in the Middle East between Israel and other Arabic states that led to the Abraham Accords. The extent of the covert war was surprising to me and while I remember seeing some incidents in the news, in one particular case I had not realised it was a cyberincident rather than a shortage of fuel (this refers to the shutting down of computers of various fuel stations around the nation). Overall an excellent analysis.

[Gay Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This well researched true account of how Mossad directors planned and put in motion operations of espionage, sabotage, targeted assassinations, infiltrations into Iranian territory, cutting-edge technologies, cyberattacks, drones and secret diplomacy to stop both the production of nuclear weapons in Iran, and the globalization of Iranian-linked cyber attacks on Israeli public and private network systems is a gripping behind the scenes reading experience.

[Len Boselovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough, sometimes painstakingly so, look at Israel's attempts to slow Iran's development of nuclear weapons and nurture relations with Arab nations also threatened by the theocracy. The authors are clearly well sourced. They also never met a subordinate clause they didn't like. I was a little taken aback by their assessment that Biden gave MBS too much grief about the murder of fellow journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Perhaps they've become too attached to their sources.

[Doc Mcgarey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nerdy book. But if you are interested is the subject of Israel, Iran, Mossad and ongoing shenanigans you’ll be interested enough to finish it.

[Baher Soliman · Rating 2 out of 5]

في ليلة شتوية من شتاء 2018، دخلت مجموعة من عملاء الموساد إلى مستودع رمادي على أطراف طهران، في منطقة صناعية بالكاد تذكرها الخرائط، وسرقوا منه ما يمكن اعتباره أكبر كنز استخباراتي في تاريخ الصراع بين إيران وإسرائيل: الأرشيف النووي السري للجمهورية الإسلامية، الذي يُوثق جهودها لعقود في تطوير قنبلة نووية.

بهذا المشهد، يفتتح كتاب " استهداف طهران" للصحفيين الإسرائيليين يوناه جيريمي بوب وإيلان إيفياتار، وهو مشهد سينمائي بامتياز، لكنه حقيقي بحسب الرواية التي يقدّمها المؤلفان بثقة وثائقية، وإن كانت تلك الثقة ذات طابع استعراضي لا يخلو من التوظيف السياسي. هذا الكتاب ليس فقط تأريخًا لعملية الموساد الأشهر، بل هو أيضًا عرض بانورامي ممتد لعقود من الحرب الخفية بين إسرائيل وإيران، منذ لحظة سقوط الشاه في 1979، وحتى العام 2023، مرورًا بالاغتيالات، التخريب الإلكتروني، الدبلوماسية السرية، واتفاقيات التطبيع، التي قدمها الكتاب بوصفها جميعًا فصولًا من كتاب "الردع الإسرائيلي".

يتعامل المؤلفان مع عملية سرقة الأرشيف النووي الإيراني عام 2018 لا بوصفها فعلاً استخباريًا فحسب، بل كتحول استراتيجي أدى، في تقديرهما، إلى تغيير الموقف الأميركي من الاتفاق النووي الإيراني، وشجّع دونالد ترامب على الانسحاب من الاتفاق الذي أبرمه باراك أوباما. يُقدَّم الأرشيف المسروق كـ"قنبلة معنوية"، ضُربت بها إيران أكثر من كونها وثائق فقط.

من هنا، يعود السرد إلى الوراء: إلى 1981، عندما قصفت إسرائيل المفاعل النووي العراقي في "تموز"، في عملية أصبحت لاحقًا تُعرف بـ"عقيدة بيغن"، التي تقضي بمنع أي دولة معادية من امتلاك سلاح نووي، بالقوة إن لزم الأمر. يوضح المؤلفان أن هذه العقيدة لم تكن استثناءً، بل أصبحت قاعدة سياسة إسرائيلية، طبّقتها لاحقًا ضد منشآت في سوريا، وتُعدّ إيران العدو الحالي الذي تنطبق عليه الشروط ذاتها.

وفي هذا السياق، يشير الكتاب إلى عمليات تخريب متكررة، منها: إطلاق فيروس "ستوكسنت"، اغتيال العلماء النوويين، واستهداف منشآت التخصيب، في سلسلة طويلة من العمليات التي تصفها الرواية الإسرائيلية بأنها دفاعية، رغم طابعها الهجومي السافر. يعرض الكتاب تعاقب قيادات الموساد، من مائير داغان إلى تامير باردو، ثم كوهين، ثم دافيد بارنيا. ويبرز اختلاف في الأساليب: الأول كان رجل اغتيالات، الثاني رجل تحليل استخباري، الثالث رجل علاقات ودبلوماسية، والرابع مزج بين العمليات السرية والقدرة التكنولوجية.

في هذا الإطار، يتم تقديم الموساد كجهاز يتطور فكريًا وميدانيًا، يتقن العمل في العتمة، ويعرف كيف يُدمج بين الاغتيال اليدوي والهجوم السيبراني، وكيف يستغل الانقسام السياسي الأميركي والإقليمي لصالح مصالح إسرائيل الاستراتيجية. كل هذا يُروى ضمن إطار لا يخفي الانحياز: فالبطولة محجوزة دومًا للموساد، والخصم دائمًا هو النظام الإيراني المراوغ.

من العمليات الميدانية، ينتقل الكتاب إلى المسار الدبلوماسي، حيث يشرح كيف لعب الموساد دورًا مركزيًا في التوصل إلى اتفاقيات أبراهام، والتي لم تكن فقط تطبيعًا سياسيًا مع الإمارات والبحرين والمغرب، بل كانت في عمقها – كما يرى المؤلفان – تحالفًا أمنيًا إقليميًا مناهضًا لإيران.

يقوم الكتاب هنا بتفكيك أدوار الأشخاص: من رون ديرمر إلى محمد بن زايد، من مايك بومبيو إلى يوسف العتيبة، ويتحول كوهين من رجل اغتيالات إلى "صانع اتفاقيات". الدافع المشترك: "الخوف من طهران". يُعرض ذلك على أنه قفزة استراتيجية لإسرائيل، تُحيّد القضية الفلسطينية، وتُنشئ حلفًا شرق أوسطيًا بقيادة إسرائيل.

يقوم المؤلفان بتوسيع العدسة لتشمل "الحلقة الإيرانية" الممتدة: من حزب الله في لبنان، إلى الحوثيين في اليمن، والحشد الشعبي في العراق، وح*ماس والج*هاد الإسلامي في غزة. يرسم المؤلفان خريطة "الخطر الإيراني" كمحيط يخنق إسرائيل، ويبررون بذلك الهجمات الاستباقية، بما فيها ضربات جوية متكررة في سوريا، وعمليات تسلل إلكتروني ضد منشآت الطاقة.

وبينما تتقدّم الرواية الإسرائيلية، تغيب أي محاولة جادة لسماع الرواية الإيرانية أو تحليل دوافعها خارج إطار "العداء الأيديولوجي". إيران هنا لا تُرى إلا كقوة ظلامية تسعى للدمار، بلا ذكر للعقوبات أو التهديد النووي الإسرائيلي أو حتى الدور الأميركي في إذكاء الصراع.

يتم الاحتفاء بالموساد كجهاز نجح في دمج القدرات الاستخباراتية مع الهندسة السياسية، بل وتقديم "نموذج إسرائيلي جديد" من الردع النشط. وبينما يثير المؤلفان تساؤلات سطحية عن "الاستراتيجية مقابل التكتيك"، إلا أنهم لا يفتحون بابًا حقيقيًا لنقد عمليات الاغتيال أو فشل الردع طويل الأمد. هل حقًا استطاعت إسرائيل إيقاف القنبلة الإيرانية؟ أم أنها فقط أخّرتها ودخلت في لعبة لا تنتهي؟

قوة الكتاب تكمن في ثرائه المعلوماتي، وتوغله داخل غرف القرارات الإسرائيلية. يقدّم مادة شبه توثيقية، لا نجد لها مثيلًا في أي سرد عربي، أو حتى أوروبي. لكن ضعفه البنيوي أنه يقدّم رواية أحادية مشحونة بالتمجيد الذاتي. هو كتاب يجسد رؤية إسرائيل لنفسها: ضحية نبيلة، وعدو ماكر، وعميل ذكي يفعل ما يلزم لحماية "ديمقراطية وسط الظلام".

الكتاب لا يُدرج ملاحق توثيقية منظمة (مثلاً: ملاحظات نهاية مفصلة، إحالات إلى وثائق، أو أرشيفات)، وإنما يعتمد على أسلوب "النقل الصحفي الاستقصائي" المقرّب من صانع القرار، لا التوثيق الأكاديمي. في سردهم لعملية سرقة الأرشيف النووي (2018)، يذكر الكاتبان أسماء المشاركين، تفاصيل الطرق، توقيتات محددة، أسماء القيادات التي أعطت الأوامر… لكن دون إسناد توثيقي صريح.

هو أقرب إلى سرد استخباراتي رسمي بلباس صحفي منه إلى بحث تاريخي. وبالتالي، فإن الثقة في دقة تفاصيله تتوقف على موقف القارئ من الرواية الإسرائيلية الأمنية نفسها. ومع ذلك يمكن أن يكون الكتاب مفيدًا لأنه يوضح كيف تفكر النخبة الاستخباراتية في تل أبيب، كما أنه مفيد لفهم شكل جديد من الصراعات مثل الحرب السيبرانية و الاغتيال المستهدف. والأهم يرصد الكتاب كيف استخدمت إسرائيل العداء مع إيران لتحويل دول الخليج من خصوم صامتين إلى شركاء تطبيع.

[Ben Rothke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Twain said that "truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; truth isn't." Imagine a scenario where an adversary penetrates the defenses of their enemy and extracts half a ton of hard-copy documents, incriminating them in what they have long denied. They then drive hundreds of miles to another country to load the documents and return to their country.

While that sounds like something straight out of Jason Bourne, that is what Israel did in 2018 when they stole over 50,000 pages of documents and hundreds of compact discs of memos, videos, and plans from Iran's clandestine nuclear archives.

In Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination – and Secret Diplomacy – to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East (Simon & Schuster), authors Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar have written a fascinating book that reads as Tom Clancy wrote it.

Make no mistake, Iran has made it eminently clear that they fully believe that Israel is indeed the great Satan. They have sunk billions of dollars into the effort and will spare no effort to do that. Israel had no other option than to deal with the threat head-on.

In this fascinating read, the authors detail how Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, has made it a priority to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Contrary to what Iran has stated and made clear in the documentation trove, Iran would use nuclear weapons to attack Israel.

While Israel's efforts to prevent Iran from getting the bomb are laudatory, the authors write that some observers, including some Israelis, have argued that Israel's war against Iran is, in fact, counterproductive and, in the end, bound to fail.

They posit that if a tiny country like Israel could develop a nuclear weapon despite the opposition of the United States, then an enormous country like Iran, with a population of over 80 million people, will surely be able to do so as well.

Others express the view that even if Israel's nuclear program deters potential invaders, paradoxically, it also gives an incentive to countries like Iran to develop nuclear weapons of their own. That conflict is inherent throughout the book.

It's long been said that the Israel battle fights are also those of the West. Interestingly, the authors show that while Israel is terrified of Iran's nuclear capabilities, the Sunni Arab states are even more terrified than Israel is. Because sitting just across the Persian Gulf, they border Iran, which Israel does not. Analysts and academics consider the sectarian rivalry between Shiite Iran and the Arab-Sunni Gulf states as deeper than that between Israel and Iran.

The authors, both military correspondents, bring a deep and broad understanding of the myriad topics. While the Iran/Israel conflict is often presented as being black and white, they show the complexities involved and the countless conflicts within Israel's military and intelligence on how to deal with the Iranian threat.

The authors cite interviews with leaders from the highest ranks of the Israeli and US governments, military, and intelligence agencies.

The book concludes that after all of Israel's military and intelligence work against Iran, the Abraham Accords might be the most powerful tool in deterring Iran. The new alliance between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain is a hugely powerful tool to deal with the Iranian threat.

While Target Tehran is in the nonfiction section, it reads like an action thriller. This fascinating and engaging book will certainly enlighten every reader.

[Rama Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mossad’s promise

Iran has two major goals; to become a nuclear weapon state and seek the destruction of Israel. These are essential requirements of ayatollahs for their belief in an Islamic ideology and national glory in the Islamic world. Israel's elite spy agency Mossad have made foiling Iran's nuclear program a top priority of their organization. It has led them to measures that includes sabotage operations on nuclear installations, assassinations of its scientists, diplomatic overtures to nations in the region, and the spectacular theft of its nuclear archive in 2018 from an Iranian site. Yossi Cohen, the head of the Mossad from 2016 to 2021, responsible for these operations is the main focus of this book. He describes the hybrid operations, infiltrations into Iranian territory, cyberattacks and drones to sabotage Iran's nuclear sites, and working with the United States in the killing of Iranian military commanders. The diplomatic success of Mossad and Israeli government led to the establishment of the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and finally Sudan, a country that was extremely hostile to Israel. The authors also describe Iran's reactions to hit back against Israel, including terrorist attacks on Israeli targets, cyber strikes, and the use of its proxies. The Iranian strategy has been to surround Israel with a ring of fire. Israel's goal has been to prevent that ring from closing around it. Iran arms Hezbollah with precision-guided missiles, and arm Hamas, it destabilized Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Iraq.

The biggest highlight of this book is the fascinating account of how a team of Mossad agents pulled off one of the most spectacular exploits in the history of espionage on the eve of January 31, 2018. After months of meticulous planning, endless hours of sophisticated electronic surveillance, and the risky infiltration of Israeli agents into Iran, the agents broke into the secret warehouse where Iran's nuclear archive containing the full record of its efforts. The heist was one of the most sensational of many Israeli operations against Iran. This operation provided vital intelligence for the Mossad in planning future strikes at the heart of Tehran's nuclear program. The archive's contents revealed that Iran had been lying for years to the international community about its nuclear program. This is the biggest embarrassment for a Muslim country and a victory for the Jewish state.

This book describes all challenges Israel has faced being surrounded by the Arab world that are united in its hatred of Isarel. This is a full account of the covert operations conducted by the Mossad. The account here does not shy away from anything to show Mossad's tactical successes in achieving a strategic victory. As of April 2023, when this book was completed, over twenty years had passed since experts predicted that Iran was close to making nuclear warheads, but they are still farther away according to Mossad. This long delay represents a significant success for Israel's elite spy agency. Mossad declares that Iran will never have nuclear weapons, and that is Mossad's promise to Israel.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Target Tehran:  How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination and Secret Diplomacy to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East.  Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar.  Simon & Schuster, 2023.  368 pages.  Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the review copy.


My default position is usually "Truth is stranger (and more interesting) than fiction," and this book definitely makes that case.  I am not a spy thriller reader, but this book should appeal to that group and to those that are fans of political shows like West Wing and The Diplomat.  It is an incredibly inside look at Israel’s covert operations aimed at thwarting Iran’s movement toward becoming a nuclear power. The authors show how Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, has combined sabotage, cyberwarfare, assassinations, diplomatic efforts, and intelligence gathering over the last 20 years or so to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms and to reshape power dynamics in the Middle East. It concentrates on events since Israeli agents and Iranians opposed to their government stole Iran's top secret nuclear archives in 2018 in order to prove that Iran was violating previous agreements and actively deceiving the world.  Twenty-first century warfare is in full force as Mossad and the Israeli Defense Force use cyberwarfare and drones in addition to embedded agents and on-the-ground assets and targeted assassinations to destroy Iran's program.   In the process, both Israel and Iran have become Top 5 world cyber-powers. At the same time, there have been some unbelievable diplomatic gains as Israel has forged relationships with several of the Gulf states because they all see Iran as their greatest existential threat.  The book does have some shortcomings.  It is largely one-sided;  the authors had much more access to US and Israeli participants than to Iranians.  Much of the subject matter is still, of course, highly classified, so the authors had to rely on limited declassified documents and interviews with individuals involved, and intelligence agencies and those people involved all have their own agendas.  Finally, time is an issue.  The authors completed writing the book in April 2023, and lots of new developments have already occurred.  Nevertheless, it was a more satisfying read than I anticipated, and I learned a lot about the current climate in the Middle East.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yonah Jeremy Bob’s Target Tehran is the kind of book that pulls back the curtain on the shadow games of the Middle East and makes you wonder how the stage hasn’t collapsed under the weight of so many competing ambitions. Bob doesn’t just lay out the obvious Israel-versus-Iran conflict; he expands the field to show how Gulf states, Middle Eastern rivals, and yes, the good old United States all weave their own agendas into the mix. Everyone comes off looking both purposeful and occasionally petty, sort of like a family reunion, if family reunions involved nuclear programs, intelligence operations, and a side of sanctions.

One of the book’s strongest qualities is its treatment of regional motivations. Gulf states are presented not as passive spectators but as players with long memories, sharp survival instincts, and a keen sense of how to hedge bets when great powers start throwing elbows. The U.S. role, meanwhile, is presented with a certain irony: the indispensable actor that sometimes manages to look like it’s improvising the entire play. Bob gives the reader the sense that Washington is equal parts conductor and last-minute substitute percussionist, banging the cymbals at just the wrong time.

What makes the book compelling is not just the behind-the-scenes detail but the way it puts the puzzle together. The covert strikes, diplomatic nudges, and open displays of force are all laid out with a clarity that’s rare in a region more often described in riddles. Bob has a knack for making intelligence operations accessible without dumbing them down, and for showing the way national interests often overlap in messy, awkward ways.

If you’re looking for a sober account of one of the most high-stakes rivalries in the world, seasoned with a recognition that the actors are human and prone to occasional missteps, Target Tehran delivers. It’s a reminder that Middle Eastern geopolitics is less a chessboard and more a crowded poker table, where everyone is bluffing, no one trusts anyone else, and the dealer occasionally forgets the rules.

[Penplam Penplam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Target Tehran by Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar is a compelling exploration of Israel’s covert operations aimed at countering Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The authors delve into the intricate world of espionage, detailing the various strategies employed by Mossad, including sabotage and cyber warfare.
One of the standout features of the book is its wealth of information. The authors provide a thorough background on the geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran, making it clear why these operations are not just strategic but also essential for national security. The insights into the inner workings of Israeli intelligence are fascinating, offering readers a glimpse into a world that is often shrouded in secrecy.
However, I found that the book tends to be somewhat repetitive in certain sections. Some points are reiterated multiple times, which can disrupt the flow of reading and detract from the overall impact of the narrative. While it’s important to emphasize key themes, a more concise approach could have enhanced the reading experience.
Overall, Target Tehran is an informative read that sheds light on a critical aspect of modern geopolitics. Despite its repetitive elements, it remains a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of Israel’s efforts to thwart Iran’s nuclear program.

[Christine D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and informative; some history, mostly events of the last thirty years, much political commentary.
Although this book was completed in April 2023, the final chapter, "Mossad's promise" was particularly prophetic. The overreaching theme of this book is that Israel is making strides towards acceptance in the middle east (Abraham accords), somewhat BECAUSE of Tehran's aggression, but the "crisis" which will be coming, seems to have come to fruition this fall (not necessarily the nuclear crisis yet, but a crisis nonetheless.)
I think of this part of the world as dominoes stacked on a spider's web soaked in kerosene-- fragile, tenuous and interconnected.
Israel and most Arabs just want to exist, but there are some who just want to watch the world burn. This book tries to lay out who belongs in each column.
Many people don't look deeper, but they fail to see that radical Muslims first kill scores of their own people who resist (Assad regime, Khomeini regime), then, (as they wrote on walls of buildings during the GWoT) "we kill the Saturday people, then we come for the Sunday people."

[BenAbe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book traces Israel’s three-decade effort to stop the Islamic regime in Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — an effort led by the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. This campaign relied on a mix of cyber warfare, sabotage, and the targeted assassination of figures tied to Iran’s nuclear program.

The book also explores the origins of the Abraham Accords and Israel’s normalization of relations with Arab countries. It shows how that diplomatic shift was rooted in the shared fear of a nuclear Iran. Israel discovered that Sunni Arab monarchies (seeing the Iranian regime as a threat to their own survival ) quietly became allies. What began as secret intelligence sharing and defense cooperation gradually evolved into open diplomatic and economic ties, culminating in the Abraham Accords. But at its core, it all started with Israel’s fight against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The first third of the book was gripping and fast-paced. But somewhere around the halfway mark, the narrative began to lose momentum. Overall, it offers valuable insights, especially into the covert operations and diplomacy that shaped the region.

[Debbie Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sweeping history of the relationship between Israel and Tehran provide interesting information about Iran's nuclear weapons program and the cyberwar between the two countries. I can't understand why anyone would want to be a nuclear scientist in Iran with the sophisticated weapons that Israel has to take out individuals. One image will forever be an indelible image in my mind, that is of the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist shot in the head from a long distance so that the Israelis could spare the wife's mind. I found other books about Mossad to be more chilling for their detailed anecdotes, but the ground covered in this book makes it an essential read to understand the Middle East. Also, this book drives the point home that tension and subterfuge isn't just a two-way street between the two countries. We forget the Sunni/Shi'ite tension in the region and the secret diplomacy that goes on in fear of Shi'ite Iran having a nuclear weapon that could threaten the Sunni Middle East.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I’d say 4.5 stars so rounding up. I learned a nice overview of dynamics in the Middle East and much more than just Israel vs Iran. I learned at least as much about other countries and their dynamics with Iran and Israel. I could listen or read this book again someday as there’s a lot there to internalize, but I found most chapters were digestible enough even for audio listening. I hate to say it, but I even got the slightest insight that President Trump is maybe slightly less rash than I would fear after hearing some of these stories involving his first presidency. The operations of the Mossad are certainly impressive. I enjoy learning about the Middle East, so maybe others wouldn’t like this book as much as I did, but I think it’s worth a read. I learned about the interactions of the United States with the regional players also.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real life James Bond stories, such a page turner. Gave plenty of context into why Israel attacked Iran. Given it is published in 2023, many of the events are not covered in other books. There are some missions like when Mossad stole the Iranian nuclear archive in 2018. Netanyahu didn't write it in detail in his biography, but here it is covered in plenty of detail. Even back in 2010s Mossad was already deeply involved in Iran, no wonder they are able to generate so much chaos. Even if you disagree with the justification of the Israeli attack on Iran, you have to admit that IDF and Mossad are hugely impressive.

[Valay S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's last pages were last written in April 2023. It's a non-fiction account of Israel's attempts to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state. Fans of the hit fiction shows Fauda and Tehran can no doubt relate to the content. The topic is even more important given the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

[Roger Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book and much detail on Israeli spycraft so I could have given it five stars but I got bogged down in the politics of the book. The politics of the region is certainly important to the big picture and the ongoing issues between Iran and Israel and UAE.

Meticulous details on all aspects of the Israeli - Iran conflict from Saratoga to accords and other political ramifications.

[Kishore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is riveting as well as informative as to difference of opinion between Iran and Israel.
As far as the author- the book depicts the total difference of opinion between the two countries, furthermore the mistrust between Iran and Israel.

[B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this as an audiobook. Good decision. It was impossible to get via library in my area, so paying for the audio made sense. Very enlightening. I highly recommend the video interviews with Joel Rosenberg of All Israel News and related articles as well.

[Yehonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

סקירה מקיפה לגבי האירועים הנוגעים לאיראן ולגרעין מזוויות שונות.
אם לשפר משהו אחד זה ציון הזמן המדויק של האירועים. בגלל האופי של הסיפור שהולך קדימה ואחורה קל לאבד אוריינטציה.
סה"כ קריאה מעניינת ומהנה.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very in-depth explanation of Israel's reactions to Iran. Mossad activity and in-Iran insurgents actions covered decades of conflict. Almost gave it a 5 because of descriptions and operations revealed.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains a few intriguing scoops, but broken logic and meandering writing undermine this book.