Lebanon and Iran Warn of Possible Recruitment on Social Media — Al Jazeera
Authorities in Lebanon and Iran have warned residents about possible attempts by Israeli intelligence services to gather information and recruit potential informants through social media. As Al Jazeera reports, they may use advertisements and appeals tailored to local audiences.
Accounts and advertisements in Lebanon
The verified Instagram account @themossadofficial, which presents itself as a page of the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, published Arabic-language appeals to establish confidential contact. Among other things, it posted messages in the Lebanese colloquial dialect of Arabic offering to discuss new opportunities in private correspondence.
In August 2025, Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security urged citizens not to interact with this account. Earlier, in January 2025, the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar wrote about possible recruitment attempts through fake high-paying job vacancies and WhatsApp messages. That same month, the security service also warned against contact with the SAWA Facebook page, which it considered a possible Mossad cover.
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In December 2025, L’Orient Today reported warnings about the “Unit 504” page, which claimed to represent a unit of the Israeli military linked to human intelligence and was seeking people willing to join its ranks. In October 2025, it was reported that Lebanese authorities had previously detained 32 people suspected of providing Israel with data used for attacks on Hezbollah leaders and members.
Warnings and punishments in Iran
Hassan Ahmadian, an associate professor at the University of Tehran, said that in Iran he had seen social media advertisements seeking analysts or security-sector employees and offering high salaries. In his view, the public placement of such advertisements may also be intended to create the impression of broad Israeli intelligence capabilities inside the country.
In July, the Iranian newspaper Kayhan reported that Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence had warned about accounts allegedly created by Mossad to obtain data and spread false information. Iran’s judiciary said that same month that transmitting images or information to networks recognized as hostile may be punishable by 10 to 15 years in prison, heavy fines, and, in some cases, charges of “corruption on earth,” which carries the death penalty.
