Israel’s US ambassador: ‘Beeper operation will seem simple’ compared to plans for Iran

After pulling off a “James Bond-level” operation in September, Israel’s ambassador suggested that the surprises pulled off last week “will make the beeper operation almost seem simple.”

All eyes were on the Middle East Monday evening as President Donald Trump excused himself from the G7 meetings in Canada to head back to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with his National Security Council. While the president suggested Iranians evacuate their capital, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter offered an update on Tehran and hinted at details that would only be known after “the dust settles.”

Making an appearance Monday with “The News on Merit Street” host Lyndsay Keith on the Dr. Phil McGraw-founded Merit Street network, Leiter said, “We’ve pulled off a number of surprises.”

“When the dust settles, you’re gonna see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple,” he went on before sharing the clip on X with the clarifying caption that those “surprises” had already taken place amid the start of Israel’s Operation Rising Lion late last week that had included drone strikes on nuclear facilities, but they would only “become evident” in retrospect.

To be clear:
When I was asked about future operations against Iran, I said that we have “already pulled off a number of surprises at the beginning of the operation,” and when the dust settles on the start of the operation “Last Thursday and Friday,” those surprises will become… https://t.co/7gX2A35AbR

— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) June 17, 2025

On September 17, Israel’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, otherwise known as Mossad, completed an operation in Lebanon and Syria that was said to have wounded nearly 3,000 people and killed 12, including two children, with the detonation of pagers that were sold to the terrorist group Hezbollah with the promise they could not be tracked and the large battery would last for months without charging.

More than 600 were wounded and 25 people were killed the following day when walkie-talkies likewise detonated in the operation described as a “James Bond-level” attack.

Diabolical details emerge on Mossad’s ‘James Bond-level’ pager attacks https://t.co/AzJPj6S2ys via @BIZPACReview

— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) October 6, 2024

Regarding what details could be made public, while working on securing the safety of stranded Israelis, Leiter shared a video to social media explaining how, “today we continue to peel back the surface-to-surface missile systems that are spread throughout Iran. We’ve reached the point where between a third and half have been demolished.”

“We hit today the broadcast center in the middle of Tehran after we informed the people living in the vicinity to leave. Hundreds of thousands of Tehranis have escaped Tehran to be out of the line of danger,” said the ambassador. “And we took out the broadcast system. This is very important because this serves the mullahs and their information campaign, the propaganda campaign throughout Iran to incite the public and to warn the public against any kind of demonstrations against the government.”

As Operation Rising Lion progresses, it’s important for the international community to understand that the purpose of Israel’s actions in Iran is to neutralize the threat to our existence through the regime’s nuclear weaponization and ballistic missile program.

I share more… pic.twitter.com/v09KmyWK22

— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) June 16, 2025

“A lot of questions have been asked today about regime change. In many of the interviews that I gave, that was the key question. We’re not in the business of regime change. We’re interested in neutralizing the threat to our existence through a nuclear weaponization program in Iran and a ballistic missile program,” he went on. “If the Iranian people rise up and change their regime, that’s their choice. And if we play a role in facilitating that eventuality, then history will judge us favorably, I believe.”

The statements from Leiter were similar to public remarks by Trump on Monday as U.S. military assets took a defensive posture in the region for the sake of protecting Americans stationed close enough to be targeted by Iran and its proxies.

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” posted the president on Truth Social. “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”