The speed at which Israel 'took down' Iranian air defences was 'shocking', ex-Mossad intelligence chief claims
Zohar Palti tells The World With Yalda Hakim that it took his country's air force 36-48 hours to "dominate completely" the skies above Iran.
Wednesday 18 June 2025 19:02, UK
A former director of intelligence at Israeli spy agency Mossad has told Sky News it was "shocking" how quickly Israel "took down" Iran's air defences.
On 13 June, the Israeli military, in an operation called "Rising Lion", started carrying out aerial attacks on Iran, hitting sites including some of its most important nuclear installations.
Israel said Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb - something Tehran has always denied seeking from its uranium enrichment programme.
Since those air attacks, both countries have been trading daily missile strikes.
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Ex-Mossad boss Zohar Palti told The World With Yalda Hakim that it took his country's air force 36-48 hours to "dominate completely" the skies above Iran.
"This is shocking in a way. This is amazing," he said.
He added: "We thought that it would be much harder, you know, because I don't want to brag or do things like that. I mean, it was much more fast than we anticipated."
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Mr Palti said he believes that in two days to a week, Israel "can call" a ceasefire.
"We will need of course the international community and when I say the international community, it's basically the Americans in this case and no doubt we will need the support of the E3, meaning the Europeans," he added.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and points to its right to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment.
Mr Palti said the Americans have the ability to "take all the [Iranian] regime in a couple of hours".
He said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was at a "crossroads" and had two options - "the existence of the regime" or "give up his inspiration right now to build a military nuclear bomb. I think it's an easy decision".
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Some Israeli officials have admitted Israel won't be able to completely destroy Iran's nuclear programme, unless US bombers drop ordnance that can penetrate sites buried deep underground.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any US strikes targeting the Islamic Republic will "result in irreparable damage for them" and that his country would not bow to Donald Trump's call for surrender.
On Wednesday, President Trump would not say whether he has decided to order an American strike on Iran.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Monday that Israel's control of Iranian airspace was "a game-changer".
And national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said pilots could operate "against countless more targets" over Tehran, thanks to the destruction of "dozens and dozens" of air defence batteries.
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In the latest bombing, Israel said its air force destroyed the headquarters of Iran's internal security service.