A senior U.S. official has confirmed to the Daily Mail that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) orchestrated a secret plot to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico, marking one
of Tehran’s most audacious operations in Latin America to date.
According to intelligence obtained by Western agencies, the plan to kill Ambassador Einat Kranz Neiger was conceived in late 2024 and remained active through the first half of 2025. Investigators say the operation was overseen by Hasan Izadi, a high-ranking officer in the IRGC’s Quds Force—the unit responsible for foreign covert operations and support for militant proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
Izadi, who operated under the alias Masood Rahnema, had been serving as the second adviser at Iran’s embassy in Venezuela. U.S. and allied officials now believe that diplomatic assignment functioned as cover for lethal operations targeting American and Israeli officials. During his posting in Caracas, he reportedly maintained regular contact with Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon.
Intelligence reviewed by the Daily Mail shows that Izadi traveled extensively through Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador while cultivating a network of facilitators across the region. Photographs obtained by investigators show him meeting in a Venezuelan apartment with other Iranian operatives: intelligence officers Majid Dastjani Farahani and Mohammad Mahdi Khanpour Ardestani.
Farahani is already wanted by the FBI for allegedly recruiting individuals inside the United States to target current and former U.S. government officials.
Despite the uncovering of the assassination plot, Ambassador Kranz Neiger continues to serve in Mexico City. Izadi is believed to be alive and back in Iran.
A U.S. official familiar with the intelligence described Iran’s plans as part of a broader pattern of transnational aggression. “This is just the latest in a long history of Iran’s global lethal targeting of diplomats, journalists, dissidents, and anyone who disagrees with them—something that should deeply worry every country where there is an Iranian presence,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official added that the plot has since been contained and poses no active threat.
Since the 1979 revolution, the IRGC has grown into Tehran’s primary vehicle for clandestine operations. Over the past four decades, it has been linked to dozens of assassination attempts across Europe, the Middle East, and North America. In recent years, U.S. authorities have pointed to a surge in Iranian-directed plots targeting high-profile American figures.
Federal prosecutors say that in September 2024, the IRGC solicited Afghan national Farhad Shakeri, who was living in Iran, to assassinate former President Donald Trump—an allegation Tehran denies. Another case unfolded in New York in March 2025, when two Eastern European organized-crime members were convicted for their role in an IRGC-backed scheme to kill Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad. Prosecutors alleged Iran paid about $500,000 and deployed a network of operatives to surveil and hunt the journalist.
In a separate 2022 indictment, U.S. prosecutors charged Iranian national Shahram Poursafi with arranging a $300,000 operation to assassinate former National Security Adviser John Bolton, an alleged attempt at revenge for the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.
The latest revelations underscore the IRGC’s expanding footprint in Latin America and renewed concerns about its covert reach far beyond the Middle East. Photo by ninara, Wikimedia commons.
