‘You've 12 Hours to Escape’: Israeli Agent Issues Chilling Warning to Iranian General in Leaked Audio Call

New Delhi: A chilling audio clip accessed by The Washington Post reveals a secretive conversation between an Israeli intelligence operative and a senior Iranian general reportedly close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the recording, the Israeli operative warns the Iranian commander to abandon his allegiance to the regime and gives him 12 hours to flee. The call happened shortly after the Israeli airstrike on June 13 that killed three top Iranian generals, including Mohammad Bagheri, Commander-in-Chief of Iran’s military, and Hossein Salami, chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

According to The Washington Post, the Israeli agent in the audio clip can be heard threatening the general, stating that,  “You have 12 hours to escape with your wife and child. Otherwise, you’re on our list right now.” The operative further warns that Israeli weapons could target the general and his family at any moment. “We’re closer to you than your own neck vein. Put this in your head. May God protect you,” the voice says.

'One by One, You’re on the List'

The report said that the general, who is a member of Iran’s powerful IRGC, was asked to record a video denouncing the Iranian regime.

“How should I send it to you?” the general asked.

“I will send you a Telegram ID,” the operative replies. “Send it.”

In the first part of the recording, the Israeli agent reportedly said,

“I’m calling from a country which, two hours ago, sent Salami, Bagheri and Shamkhani to hell. And now I’m calling for you. All of you are on the list I’m looking at, and you’re our next targets. We will hit your family, your children, everyone with the dirt. I only called to tell you, look, as long as there’s time. I will give you a reprieve. Like I said, 12 hours from this very minute. If not, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. We’re closer than your neck vein. Put this in your head.”

Leaked Audio Here: 

It remains unclear whether the general recorded and sent the video. The Washington Post reported that he is believed to still be alive and inside Iran. Sources familiar with the operation told the newspaper that one of the primary goals was to confuse and destabilize Tehran’s leadership.

As per the Washington Post report, the individual who provided the recording  that the audio was not manipulated in any way except to disguise the identity of the Israeli agent. The general’s name and voice have also been withheld to protect his identity.

This revelation comes amid a sharp escalation in Iran-Israel hostilities, now in their twelfth day. The heavy exchange of missiles and strikes has also drawn in the United States, which recently bombed there major Iranian nuclear facilities, Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended the strikes, claiming they were necessary to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. While no new public evidence has been shared by Israel, US intelligence officials have acknowledged that Iran has researched ways to quickly assemble a crude nuclear device if it decides to do so, but has not made a formal decision to build a bomb.

READ MORE: ‘Ceasefire… Don’t Violate It’: Donald Trump Confirms Israel-Iran Truce | Republic World

Israel says 'Regime Change Not Our Objective'

Despite the intense military actions, both the Iranian and Israeli governments have insisted that regime change is not their objective. Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recently said that, “Regime change is not the objective. It might be one of the results, but it is not one of the objectives of the Israeli operations.”

He added, “The work is still not finished. We need to continue until this existential threat is fully removed.”