A former CIA counterterrorism officer has described how Israel allegedly used Iran's Afghan refugee population to conduct precision strikes against Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps generals and nuclear scientists during the June 2025 war.
John Kiriakou, speaking on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast recently, outlined what he characterized as a "masterful" intelligence operation. A clip from the interview gained widespread attention this week after being shared on social media.
According to Kiriakou's account, Israel took advantage of Iran's treatment of over 2 million Afghan refugees, who he said are treated as "illegal aliens" with no access to medical care, welfare or stable food supplies, leaving them desperate.
"Israel discreetly recruited them as informants, offering $200 per month for low-level intelligence: addresses of top generals and scientists, plus their cell phone numbers," Kiriakou said in the podcast.
Using this information, Israel allegedly geolocated the phones and launched precision missile strikes, killing the top 12 IRGC generals and "almost every" nuclear scientist, according to Kiriakou's description.
When Iran discovered the security breach and banned cell phones for senior officials and scientists, they overlooked bodyguards who still carried them. Israel then allegedly targeted those phones, Kiriakou claimed.
The former CIA analyst framed the operation as sophisticated human intelligence work that exploited vulnerabilities without relying on high-tech equipment.
