Recent wins by Israeli intel against Iranian agents abroad have sparked a fresh debate: if Tehran’s networks are being hit so hard, why are Jewish communities in the UK and elsewhere still looking over their shoulders?Talking to security insiders, it’s clear that while the Mossad and IDF have been tearing apart Iran’s overseas setups during this latest conflict, the danger hasn’t just vanished.
You can’t just undo decades of groundwork overnight. Even with operatives being taken out or disrupted, there are still “leftover” cells and random actors out there capable of causing real trouble.
The situation feels a lot more urgent lately, especially after that stabbing in London’s Golders Green. Investigators are still trying to figure out if that attack had direct ties to foreign influence or just a shared ideology.
But officials warn that it’s rarely a straight line back to Tehran; usually, it’s a messy mix of “lone wolves” or loose networks rather than a direct order from a central command.On top of that, the post-October 7 political mess isn’t helping.
Tensions between Israel and some Western allies are making it harder for everyone to share intel and stay on the same page.
Experts are basically saying that while Iran’s networks have taken some massive hits, you don’t dismantle a global system built over forty years just by winning a few rounds of a war.