In what is being called one of the most precise and damaging operations in recent memory, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on June 13, 2025. The nighttime aerial assault involved warplanes and drones breaching Iranian airspace, targeting key military and missile infrastructures.
The operation was not just a military success—it was also an intelligence triumph years in the making. At the center of it all is Catherine Perez-Shakdam, a French-born Mossad agent who penetrated deep into Iran’s leadership circles.
Reports suggest that the operation led to the deaths of nearly 15 senior Iranian commanders. While the strike seemed sudden to the world, Israeli intelligence had spent years crafting this mission. Much of its success is now being credited to Shakdam, a woman whose journey from Paris to Tehran reads like a modern-day spy thriller.
Catherine Perez-Shakdam was raised in a secular Jewish family in France. In a carefully planned move, she married a Muslim Yemeni man she met in London, converted to Islam, and eventually moved to Yemen. Her transformation gave her a new identity, allowing her to write for regional media and gradually earn credibility as a voice sympathetic to Iran.
By 2017, she was working as a journalist with Russian state broadcaster RT and had started forming links with Iran’s top brass. Shakdam was eventually invited to Iran, where she not only embraced Shia Islam publicly but was also given access to influential government officials. She met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, General Qassem Soleimani, and later President Ebrahim Raisi. Over time, she gained the trust of key regime members, particularly the wives of top military officials.
Using her charm and journalistic cover, Shakdam was allowed into homes, meetings, and even sensitive military zones. While publicly penning articles that aligned with Iran’s ideological views, she secretly collected valuable intelligence. Photographs she took and articles she wrote were used as tools to feed data back to Israel. Her writings even appeared on Khamenei’s official website before being swiftly erased once her identity was exposed.
Catherine’s exact whereabouts remain unknown. She disappeared just three days before the June 13 attack. Iran has since launched a nationwide manhunt and executed several suspected collaborators. Some believe she has assumed a new identity and is living under the radar, continuing to work for Israeli intelligence.
Her story has become a symbol of high-stakes espionage—where a single individual, through calculated deception, charm, and intelligence, can reshape the course of geopolitical conflicts. Shakdam’s case underscores how warfare today isn’t just fought with weapons, but also with information and infiltration.
