The Sixth-Generation Battlefield: US, Iran, Israel, and China

After Israel’s intelligence-driven campaign inside Iran exposed major vulnerabilities, China moved quietly to strengthen Tehran through cyber, military, and strategic backing. The conflict is fast becoming a testing ground for next-generation hybrid warfare.

In their latest attack on Iran, Israel and the US have killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s army chief of staff, General Abdol Rahim Mousavi, and Defence Minister General Aziz Nasirzadeh. They have also killed Major General Mohammad Pakpour (the Revolutionary Guard’s top commander since the murder of his predecessor by Israel last June) and Ali Shamkhani, a top security adviser to Khamenei. Reports are coming in that Israel showed pictures of Khamenei’s dead body to Trump, which was only possible due to Mossad agents being physically present at the site of the strike.

This sets a new normal in modern-day warfare whereby intelligence acts as a precedent to kinetic warfare. As Iran lies completely in the Chinese sphere of influence and is highly significant for its energy imports, China’s involvement in the Iranian war against the US and Israel becomes inevitable, though indirect. Through effective measures, Beijing has assisted Iran in creating an alternative network to try and hinder Israeli attempts against its sovereignty.

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” (Sun Tzu – The Art of War)

Mossad’s Structural Penetration in Iran

Iran’s intelligence failure in last year’s 12-Day War against Israel depends more on the internal security compulsions than external interventions. This war not only provided ample opportunity for the US and Israel to assess Iran’s internal situation, but it also became a testing ground for China to prepare itself for the evolving nature of future warfare. Mossad exploited major structural weaknesses of Iran to plot its entire war plan, which are given below:

1. Domestic Recruitment

The ultimate aim of Israel in Iran is regime change by eliminating the senior leadership of the Islamic Republic, which is evidenced by their actions on the 28th of February 2026. Since their ultimate aim is to destabilise Iran and change the regime, they need boots on the ground. What Mossad is doing inside Iran is recruiting anti-regime dissidents as an alternative to its direct agents. This provides Israel with two major advantages: simultaneously launching proxy boots inside Iran and challenging the regime internally before any kinetic action.

The Guards’ naval forces’ first commander, Hossein Alaei, declared, “Mossad has established its most potent structure in Iran. They have made significant financial investments and put in place all the essential structures.” The goals of these recruiters are diverse, ranging from inciting Iranian citizens to demonstrate throughout the nation to installing a variety of smuggled heavy missile systems to destroy Iranian missile launchers and air defence batteries.

2. Surveillance and Espionage

Israel has taken advantage of Western digital systems used in Iran. From social media to satellites, the access of Mossad and CIA agents to these Western tools makes Iranian security even more vulnerable. Social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook, etc., were continuously under surveillance by Israel. Former deputy vice president of Iran, Sasan Karimi, said, “We know our senior officials and commanders did not use phones, but their counterparts, security personnel, and drivers did. They did not take the precaution seriously, and this is how they were tracked the most.”

Through jamming and spoofing, Israel has exploited the GPS access of Iranian officials and their associates. These tactics could easily disrupt location services, allowing Israel to pinpoint target Iranian senior leadership. Likewise, Iran’s missile command and control system was based on GPS and other Western satellite technologies. By disrupting GPS signals, Israel not only defended its territory but also diverted incoming Iranian missiles or drones to go off course, sometimes even inside Iran itself.

3. Psychological Warfare

Thomas Rid, in his seminal work, ‘Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation,’ stated, “Psychological warfare theory posits that the success of intelligence can undermine the legitimacy of a state by revealing its inability to protect elites or territory.” The presence of the Mossad agents in the Iranian streets has been a source of psychological pressure to both the Iranian population and the leadership.

Thus, in December 2025, one of the largest demonstrations in Iran’s history erupted against the government’s failure to maintain economic stability in the country. The protests went violent, and Iranian authorities accused Israeli agents of being the prime instigators and originators of these protests. A crackdown was conducted by the Iranian regime to crush the demonstrations and arrest Mossad operatives. The Iranian administration has been under continuous psychological pressure due to economic turmoil, resulting in protests, which include Mossad operatives amongst the ordinary Iranians. This is further evidenced by the statement made on social media by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, i.e., “Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also, to every Mossad agent walking beside them”

China’s Countermeasures

As of 28 February 2026, Israel and the US launched surprise attacks against Iran in the midst of the nuclear negotiations. Maintaining its long-standing non-interventionist stance, the PRC is indirectly supporting Iran through various means. From military exports to intelligence assistance, China is keenly observing and countering the new normal of warfare set by Israel in Iran.

China has been arming Iran with anti-ship missiles to counter US and Israeli attacks. Iran is also reportedly finalising an agreement to acquire Chinese CM-302 supersonic cruise missiles. Moreover, China is reportedly providing Iran with different air defence systems, such as Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (i.e., MANPADS) and anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite weapons, to increase its capacity to counter air attacks. In addition, the PRC is also providing solid rocket fuel and dual-use technologies to rebuild Iran’s missile capabilities to replace those lost during previous conflicts.

The newly released “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” (2026-2030) by the PRC categorically mentioned digital sovereignty, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence in Iran as essential tools for protecting Iranian cyberspace. After the 12-day war last year, Iran permanently shifted from Western systems to Chinese-origin digital platforms, i.e., BeiDou, and asked its people to delete WhatsApp, Facebook (banned in Russia), and other Western social media platforms. Thus, through these digital shifts, China is assisting Iran to try and eliminate the Israeli threat of intercepting and manipulating Iranian command and control systems.

Through providing full membership in SCO in 2023, China has brought Iran under the umbrella of its security and intelligence framework. Beijing has always underlined the potential of the SCO as a tool of enhanced security coordination and mutual strength against any outside meddling. Placing Iran in this context can be considered both operational and political: it spreads counterintelligence know-how to Iran and conveys the message to the West that the intelligence pressure on Tehran is not limited to bilateral relations.

Lessons from the Iran-Israel Conflict

Chinese strategic circles have been observing Israeli moves in Iran with an eagle eye. Iran has provided two major benefits to the PRC: the first is having a strategic partner assisting in containing Western moves in West Asia, and the second is providing a testing ground where the Chinese could better understand the evolving dynamics of hybrid warfare. The Mossad’s extensive penetration in Iran is recognised by Chinese military experts and intelligence organisations as the opening of a “Pandora’s box of threats to international security.”

According to Fu Qianshao, a military specialist and former analyst for the Chinese Air Force, “Mossad’s accomplishment in establishing operatives inside Iran and crippling its radar and air defence systems was a ‘new pattern of intelligence warfare’.”

Israel’s intelligence warfare inside Iran, which includes domestic recruitment, digital surveillance, and psychological pressure, has provided a lesson: sterilise the adversary’s national security apparatus before any kinetic action. In response to this, China has provided Iran with digital insulation, navigation substitution, radar modernisation, and satellite-supported monitoring as countermeasures to retaliate against Israeli moves. This has provided the Chinese with a clear assessment: resilience takes precedence over retaliation. Instead of retaliating kinetically to the adversary’s non-kinetic moves, retaliate in a way that reinforces systems rather than escalates confrontation. This means that even though the Iranian senior leadership has been targeted, Iran can immediately recover the leadership lacuna and reinforce the system once again.

China is successfully pursuing a dual-track policy: countering Mossad’s vast intelligence system in Iran while maintaining a non-confrontational stance towards Israel through military diplomacy. This move by the PRC is quite significant in the sense that it would allow it to learn the enemy’s strong and weak points while the adversary is busy making mistakes. The Iran-Israel conflict is the best manifestation of the evolving nature of cognitive warfare, also known as 6th-generation warfare. Iran, together with China, can learn to counter modern non-kinetic threats. Thus, the US-Israel joint venture against Iran is a crucial test for China’s influence in the region.

Aleena Im is an independent researcher and writer and is interested in international relations and current affairs

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