The Iranian regime is expanding its sphere of influence across the Middle East, Mossad Director Yossi Cohen warned Tuesday at a Finance Ministry conference.
Cohen said Israel is closely monitoring the Islamic republic's steps domestically and abroad, and has "eyes, ears and more, even inside Iran."
Speaking of the recent wave of violent protests in Iran, Cohen said: "The average Iranian citizen went out to protest because of the economic situation, and the expectation that President Hassan Rouhani would improve the economy. That's what's brought them out to the streets. We don't need to start speculating, even though I would, of course, be very happy to see a social revolution in Iran.
"That's something that could perhaps happen, maybe in the future, maybe tomorrow. With that, we must understand that the protesters are facing dark forces."
Cohen said the Iranian economy had been in crisis prior to the nuclear deal but is now flourishing. Iranian citizens, however, are not enjoying the fruits of this economic boom because more and more funds are being invested in defense, intelligence and "what we call Iran's expansion in the Middle East and beyond," Cohen said.
Arab leaders are growing increasingly concerned over Iran's expansion, he said. The Iranians are "galloping into the Middle East unhindered with a vast array of forces via land and air corridors" to spread their vision of Islam.
Cohen also discussed U.S. President Donald Trump's possible amendments to the nuclear deal with Iran and praised him in contrast to his predecessor, Barack Obama, whose policy was to "lead from behind."
Obama's approach created a problem, the Mossad chief told the audience.
"The war never ends and Russia returned to the region after many years. From Israel's perspective this is a challenge," he said.
"Over the past year, we are seeing a good change on the part of the U.S., which takes the Israeli interest into greater consideration and will perhaps facilitate a good change of direction from our perspective. In our view, we are starting to see dramatic changes in the American understanding of the strategic threats posed by Iran."
