Israel spent years hacking Iran’s traffic camera network and infiltrating mobile phone systems to monitor the movements of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his security detail ahead of his assassination, the Financial Times has reported.
Citing multiple current and former Israeli intelligence officials as well as others familiar with the operation, the newspaper said nearly all traffic cameras in Tehran had allegedly been compromised for years. According to two sources quoted in the report, footage was encrypted and transmitted to servers located in Tel Aviv and southern Israel.
One particular camera angle was described as especially valuable, as it helped determine where bodyguards parked their personal vehicles and offered insight into daily routines inside the compound near Pasteur Street in Tehran, the report added.
According to CNN, US and Israeli intelligence officials had closely studied Khamenei’s daily routines, “where he lived, whom he met with, how he communicated and where he might retreat under threat of attack.” Reportedly, they were also tracking other senior political and military leaders who rarely assembled in one place with the 86-year-old cleric.
Top Iranian officials, including Khamenei, were scheduled to meet on Saturday morning at separate sites within a Tehran compound housing the offices of the supreme leader, the presidency and national security apparatus, CNN reported.
Plans for a night assault were changed to a daytime strike, sources told the news outlet. At around 6 am local time in Israel, fighter jets fired precision-guided munitions at the compound, marking the opening phase of a coordinated US-Israeli operation, CNN reported.
An unnamed Israeli military official told Associated Press that the airstrikes hit three targets within 60 seconds, killing Iran’s supreme leader and around 40 senior officials, including the chief of the Revolutionary Guard. He said carrying out the attack in broad daylight introduced an element of surprise.
WHEN ISRAEL TARGETTED HEZBOLLAH WITH PAGERS
Earlier in September 2024, Israel’s Mossad targeted Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Syria using exploding pagers and walkie talkies.
The pagers were made slightly larger to accommodate the explosives hidden inside. They were tested on dummies multiple times to find the right amount of explosive that would hurt only the Hezbollah fighter and not anyone else in close proximity.
Mossad also tested numerous ringtones to find one that sounded urgent enough to make someone pull the pager out of their pocket.
One of the agent, who went by the name “Gabriel,” said it took two weeks to convince Hezbollah to switch to the heftier pager, in part by using false ads on YouTube promoting the devices as dustproof, waterproof, providing a long battery life and more.
He described the use of shell companies, including one based in Hungary, to dupe the Taiwanese firm, Gold Apollo, into unknowingly partnering with the Mossad.
Hezbollah also was unaware it was working with Israel.
REGIONAL ESCALATION SINCE KHAMENEI’S KILLING
According to US officials, more than 1,250 targets in Iran have been struck, 11 Iranian ships destroyed and at least 10 warships sunk. Six US service personnel have been killed in Iranian retaliatory attacks on Kuwait over the weekend.
The US-Israeli strikes have killed top Iranian politicians and military officials, including Khamenei, and hit more than 1,000 targets.
The widening conflict has plunged the Gulf into war, killed scores of civilians in Iran, Israel and Lebanon, disrupted global aviation and forced shipping shutdowns through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade, sending energy prices sharply higher.
