Israeli intelligence hacked into Tehran’s traffic camera network years ago to monitor the bodyguards of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials ahead of the supreme leader’s assassination, according to a newly released report.
The Financial Times reported that Israel’s Mossad intelligence organization gained access to the cameras, which form part of Iran’s surveillance apparatus used to identify and pursue protesters and regime opponents. One camera was positioned to show where members of Khamenei’s security team parked their vehicles.
Through the footage, Israeli intelligence compiled files on the guards’ home addresses, work schedules, and protection assignments. The IDF’s Unit 8200 handled the bulk of the work, using AI tools and algorithms to process vast amounts of data and track the movements of Iran’s leadership.
On the day of the strike, Israel and the United States disrupted cellular service on Pasteur Street in Tehran, where Khamenei was killed, to prevent warnings from reaching his bodyguards.
“We knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem,” an Israeli intelligence official told the Financial Times. “And when you know [a place] as well as you know the street you grew up on, you notice a single thing that’s out of place.”
The operation helped confirm that Khamenei and other top officials were heading to a meeting at his residential compound in central Tehran on Saturday morning. The CIA also provided key human intelligence on the supreme leader.
A remarkable intelligence coup ultimately determined the timing of the opening strikes after the CIA learned Khamenei would be at the compound along with senior civilian and military leaders, The New York Times reported. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead while flying to Corpus Christi for an energy speech.
Khamenei had led the Islamic Republic since 1989. Iran said it will convene its Assembly of Experts as soon as possible to name a successor.