Report says CIA surveillance and coordinated U.S.–Israeli planning enabled simultaneous strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader and senior officials.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials followed an extended intelligence operation that spanned months, according to a detailed report by The New York Times.
The report states that the killing of Khamenei came after months of intelligence tracking and analysis that enabled U.S. and Israeli forces to identify his precise location inside Tehran.
“The C.I.A. had been tracking Ayatollah Khamenei for months, gaining more confidence about his locations and his patterns, according to people familiar with the operation,” the Times reported.
According to the account, U.S. intelligence agencies learned that a high-level meeting of senior Iranian political and military officials was scheduled for Saturday morning at a leadership compound in central Tehran. Crucially, the agency determined that Khamenei himself would attend.
“The United States and Israel decided to adjust the timing of their attack, in part to take advantage of the new intelligence, according to officials with knowledge of the decisions,” the newspaper reported.
“The information provided a window of opportunity for the two countries to achieve a critical and early victory: the elimination of top Iranian officials and the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei.”
Following confirmation of the gathering, the CIA reportedly passed the intelligence to Israeli authorities, who carried out the strike after determining that multiple senior officials would be present at the compound alongside Khamenei.
Among those reported to have been killed were Mohammad Pakpour, commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iran’s defense minister; Admiral Ali Shamkhani, head of the Military Council; Seyyed Majid Mousavi, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force; and Mohammad Shirazi, deputy intelligence minister, along with other officials.
Jets departing Israel at approximately 6 a.m. local time launched coordinated strikes, with missiles hitting targets in Tehran at approximately 9:40 a.m., according to the report.
“This morning’s strike was carried out simultaneously at several locations in Tehran, in one of which senior figures of Iran’s political-security echelon had gathered,” an Israeli defense official wrote in a message describing the operation.
Iranian authorities have confirmed the deaths of Khamenei, Rear Adm. Shamkhani and Maj. Gen. Pakpour.
The Times further reported that U.S. intelligence services were aware of Khamenei’s location last June during Operation Midnight Hammer, a campaign targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. According to the account, the intelligence network that identified his whereabouts at that time played a central role in locating him again during the operation that resulted in his death.
The report describes a coordinated effort between U.S. and Israeli intelligence and military planners, culminating in what officials characterized as a decisive early strike against Iran’s senior leadership structure.