Mossad trained Kurds for Iran invasion to trigger national uprising – report

Israel secretly brought over thousands of Kurdish militia members and trained them for operation aimed at toppling the Iranian regime.

Israel’s Mossad developed an ambitious plan to bring down Iran’s government by sending thousands of Kurdish fighters into the country, triggering a nationwide uprising and ultimately installing former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as its new leader, according to multiple reports.

The operation was given the code name “Puss in Boots,” Israel’s Channel 13 reported on Monday.

Ahmadinejad, once one of Israel’s most outspoken enemies, was reportedly referred to by Israeli officials involved in the plan as “the friend.”

;

The proposed campaign called for the Israeli Air Force to strike Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps bases and other government positions along Iran’s border with Iraq.

Kurdish forces would then cross into northwestern Iran and advance through the country’s Kurdish-majority cities.

Mossad planners reportedly expected thousands of young Iranian Kurds to join the invading forces, transforming the operation into a mass movement capable of advancing toward Tehran.

The Kurdish offensive was intended to coincide with demonstrations involving millions of Iranians, overwhelming the government’s security forces and causing the Islamic Republic to collapse.

An earlier Channel 12 investigation described the intended chain reaction as a “domino effect — first the Kurds and then other sectors.”

;

Channel 13 reported that thousands of Kurdish fighters were brought to Israel for training and operational exercises. They were allegedly warned that Israeli support would end if they deliberately harmed civilians.

The Mossad also reportedly provided Kurdish groups with money, vehicles and weapons, including firearms, antitank launchers, grenades and mortars. Some of the weapons had been captured by Israel during its wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, according to separate reports by Channel 12 and Ynet.

The political component of the plan involved restoring Ahmadinejad to power after the fall of Iran’s clerical leadership.

Ahmadinejad served as president from 2005 to 2013 and became internationally known for denying the Holocaust, threatening Israel and expanding Iran’s nuclear program.

After leaving office, however, he increasingly clashed with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and was repeatedly barred from running in subsequent elections.

;

The New York Times reported that Israeli intelligence began cultivating Ahmadinejad in 2022 as he distanced himself from the government and sought a political comeback.

According to the report, Ahmadinejad concluded that foreign intervention might be his only path back to power.

A close associate reportedly said he envisioned recognizing Israel and joining the Abraham Accords if he returned to office.

Israel allegedly used an academic conference in Budapest as cover for contacts with Ahmadinejad.

A senior Hungarian official reportedly asked Ludovika University of Public Service to invite him to a climate conference in 2024, allowing him to meet Israeli intelligence officers.

;

Then-Mossad chief David Barnea personally met Ahmadinejad during one of his trips to Hungary, according to reports in the Times and Haaretz. Ahmadinejad returned to Budapest in June 2025 and again met Israeli operatives after twice evading the Iranian security personnel assigned to accompany him.

Israel also paid some of Ahmadinejad’s housing and travel expenses, the Times reported.

The former president became sufficiently important to the plan that Israeli officials referred to him internally as “the friend,” according to Channel 13.

The operation was developed after Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June 2025.

At the conclusion of that conflict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: “For generations, we have finished with Iran.”

;

Behind the scenes, however, Barnea reportedly promoted a broader regime-change strategy and told political leaders that removing Iran’s government was an achievable objective.

The plan was initially expected to take place later, but large anti-government demonstrations in Iran in January 2026 prompted Israeli officials to consider moving it forward.

Israel reportedly sought additional preparation time because the Kurdish forces were not yet ready.

During a February White House meeting, President Donald Trump reportedly asked Netanyahu: “When do you want it? When will you be ready?”

Barnea estimated that bringing down the government could require approximately one year, while IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly warned that it could take as long as three years.

;

Trump ultimately approved the broader US-Israeli attack on Iran, which began on February 28.

Israeli and American forces carried out extensive strikes against IRGC positions, military bases, missile systems, police facilities and Basij militia sites in northwestern Iran. According to the reports, at least some of those attacks were intended to clear a route for Kurdish forces entering from Iraq.

The Kurdish ground offensive never began, however.

Channel 13 reported that the White House ordered Israel to stop the fighters from entering Iran three days after the war started.

“Three days after the beginning of the campaign, we received a ‘Don’t,’” an Israeli official said.

;

Israeli officials reportedly attributed Trump’s reversal partly to pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who strongly opposed an armed Kurdish movement gaining territory or influence near Turkey’s borders.

US Vice President JD Vance and several Gulf governments also reportedly raised objections, fearing that the collapse of Iran could divide the country into competing ethnic and territorial entities and create wider instability.

Kurdish commanders were also reportedly reluctant to proceed without guarantees that the United States and Israel would remain involved until the Iranian government fell.

They feared that Western countries would halt the war before the operation was completed, leaving Kurdish fighters exposed to retaliation by a recovering Iranian government.

Attempts by Israeli political officials and the Mossad to reverse Washington’s decision were unsuccessful.

;

Trump subsequently distanced himself from the effort to arm Kurdish forces.

“To be honest with you, the Kurds let us down,” Trump told Fox News in June. “I disagreed with the decision. I was saying, ‘No, I don’t believe they’ll deliver.’”

“I think they kept the weapons for themselves,” he added. “I think it’s a disgrace, but I’ll remember that, Kurds.”