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has purged a number of senior leaders as it fears Israel has infiltrated its security apparatus, in light of a recent spate of assassinations in the Islamic republic, The Telegraph reported.

A senior general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – the military’s elite force – has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel, the British paper said.

In a shock change last week,

Brigadier General Majid Khademi replaced Hossein Taeb, who was a major figure in Iran’s government and enjoyed a close relationship with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian analysts told The Telegraph.

Despite Iranian officials saying the move was a standard changing of roles, it follows a series of damaging incidents for the country, such as the assassination of IRGC officers and , which Tehran suspects Israel was behind.

On top of this, it was reported last month that Turkey had scuppered an Iranian effort to kill Israelis in the country.

Tehran denied it was plotting to kill Israelis in Turkey.

Is Israel widening its shadow war against Iran?

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Israeli officials told The Telegraph that the recent operations were part of a strategy called the "Octopus doctrine," which compares the regime’s leadership to the head of an octopus and its various regional proxies as the tentacles.

"But rather than limiting the effect of those tentacles, Israeli forces are now shifting to directly striking the head of the beast," the paper quoted these officials as saying.

Iran supports many militias and paramilitary forces in the region, among them Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, and groups in Syria.

"The Iranians saw all of that information released by Israel as a huge slap in the face. And they were shocked. They were rattled by it," an Israeli security official told the British news outlet, adding that the doctrine "has proven to be effective. It has caused shockwaves throughout the leadership of Iran."