Iran’s plot to assassinate Israeli ambassador revealed for the first time
A US official told the Daily Mail that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was plotting to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico.
The plot to kill Einat Kranz Neiger emerged at the end of 2024 and was active throughout the first half of this year.
By late 2024, Western intelligence agencies had tracked an assassination plot allegedly linked to Hassan Izadi, a senior officer in Iran’s Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and responsible for foreign operations and support for allied militias in the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Investigators say Izadi, who used the alias Masood Rahnema, led an attempt to kill the Israeli ambassador, working as a double agent.
Izadi was appointed as the second advisor to Iran’s embassy in Venezuela; it was a diplomatic mission that U.S. and allied officials now believe doubled as cover for deadly operations targeting American and Israeli officials.
He was reportedly in regular contact with Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon during his time in Caracas.
Intelligence reports shown to the Daily Mail show Izadi traveled to Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, creating a network of informants and facilitators across Latin America.
The Quds Force plays a central role in Iran’s foreign military and intelligence strategy; It maintains its influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and beyond.
Four of the conspirators meet in an apartment in Venezuela. IRGC-QF officer Hasan Izadi, known as Masood Rahnema (center), Iranian intelligence officer Majid Dastjani Farahani (far left) and Iranian intelligence officer Mohammad Mehdi Khanpour Ardestani (far right).
The FBI is currently seeking information on Farahani (far left) in order to recruit individuals from within the United States to fatally target current and former US government officials.
IRG-QF officer Hasan Izadi aka Masood Rahnema (far right) at an event with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to commemorate the death of former Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi
Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) march during the annual ‘Holy Defense Week’ military parade
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is pictured speaking with members of the Iranian air force in Tehran on February 7, 2025. Khamenei called on his government not to negotiate with the US, saying it would be ‘unwise’ to do so.
Israeli Ambassador to Mexico Einat Kranz Neiger
“This is the latest incident in a long history of global deadly targeting by Iran of diplomats, journalists, dissidents and anyone who disagrees with them, something that should deeply concern every country where Iran has a presence,” the US official, who requested anonymity, told the Daily Mail.
The source told the Daily Mail that the plot has been contained and does not currently pose a threat.
Kranz Neiger will remain in Mexico City as ambassador. According to US intelligence, Izadi is alive and still in Iran.
Since the 1979 revolution, the Revolutionary Guard has become the main tool of the Iranian regime’s covert operation. He has been linked to dozens of assassination plots in Europe, the Middle East and America over the past four decades.
The Revolutionary Guard has recently been involved in several murder-for-hire plots targeting high-profile US officials.
Federal prosecutors say that in September 2024, the IRGC asked Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan citizen living in Iran, to assassinate President Trump. Iran denied this.
Another high-profile case failed in New York: In March 2025, federal prosecutors convicted two Eastern European organized crime figures for their involvement in a murder plot to kill outspoken anti-regime Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad.
According to court documents, the Iranian government paid nearly $500,000 and deployed a network of agents to surveil and target Alinejad.
In August 2022, US prosecutors accused Iranian national Shahram Poursafi of arranging a $300,000 payment for the killing of former National Security Advisor John Bolton, allegedly in retaliation for the January 2020 US attack that killed IRGC-QF commander Qasem Soleimani.
