Iranupdated 1h ago2 min read
Israeli Intelligence Services Use Instagram To Recruit Informants In Lebanon And Iran
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Israeli intelligence using social media to recruit informants in Lebanon and Iran. Instagram account posing as Mossad published Arabic-language recruitment messages.
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Recruitment and espionage
Israeli intelligence services are believed to be turning to social media to gather information and recruit potential informants in Lebanon and Iran, according to security experts. An Instagram account verified and operating under the handle @themossad_official has published Arabic-language messages encouraging people to make contact through confidential channels.
Lebanon’s General Security Directorate warned residents against interacting with the Instagram account in August 2025, and Lebanon’s General Security Directorate also warned against interacting with a Facebook page called SAWA in January 2025. Hassan Ahmadian, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Tehran, described the current situation as one of the most intense periods in decades-long espionage between Iran and Israel, saying, "This is an intelligence war."
Phone calls and diplomacy
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received a phone call Wednesday from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to discuss the situation in the region, the Lebanese presidency said. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Araghchi stressed during the call the need to halt Israeli attacks on Lebanon and end the occupation of areas in the country’s south.
ISNA reported that Araghchi and Aoun discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the wider region during a telephone conversation, with Araghchi emphasizing the necessity of halting the Zionist regime's attacks and aggressions against Lebanon. Mehr News Agency said Araghchi told Aoun that the Lebanese President emphasized the priority and necessity of diplomatic solutions for regional crises.
Threats and displacement stakes
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to seize additional territory in southern Lebanon and expand Israel’s permanent security zone if Hezbollah joins Iran in an attack on Israel, according to The Times of Israel. Katz said during a visit to the Israeli military’s buffer zone in southern Lebanon that Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh and a Hezbollah stronghold, would be evacuated and its infrastructure targeted.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Katz said, "More than 1 million Shiites will become displaced in Lebanon," and it said the IDF already controls much of southern Lebanon up to 10 kilometers from the border. Los Angeles Times reported that Hezbollah will pay up to $14,000 in aid to families whose homes in Lebanon were destroyed or made uninhabitable during the war with Israel, and it said Ali Daamoush accused the Lebanese state of failing to carry out its duties to help the displaced.