Khaberni - Israel Hayom newspaper stated that the photo which led to the dismissal of the prominent Iranian official Rostam Qasemi in 2022, where he is seen embracing his mistress, was taken by Mossad agents and leaked at a sensitive time.
The newspaper said that Qasemi had been a target of Israeli intelligence for a long time, especially since he held sensitive positions within the Revolutionary Guard, and described him as one of the key supervisors of the arming of the Iranian special forces; then after his retirement, he was appointed as an advisor to the late president, Ebrahim Raisi.
The newspaper mentioned that the photo was taken in Malaysia in 2011, and that Mossad was tracking all of Qasemi's movements at that time.
Although the photo was taken in 2011, Mossad chose to publish it in 2022 for two reasons, according to the newspaper: to eliminate this prominent security official, and to boost the protests in Iran after the death of activist Mahsa Amini.
The newspaper claimed that the process of excluding Qasemi represented a "revolution" in Mossad, which was accustomed to eliminating officials through physical assassination.
The newspaper pointed out that many of the scandals that occurred in Iran over the past years were orchestrated by Mossad, and a large portion of them were broadcasted by the opposition channel "Iran International" which operates out of London.
