Khaberni - A report published by the «Financial Times» stated that Israel meticulously monitored for years the protection teams of the Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, using the hacked traffic camera network in Tehran to track the movements of his security personnel and senior officials prior to his assassination.
The report stated that Israel managed to monitor the «daily lifestyle» of Iranian officials' personal guards through a compromised traffic camera network in Tehran, including the locations where they parked their cars and the routes they took, ultimately identifying those they were tasked to protect; this data was part of an extensive intelligence campaign.
According to the report, almost all traffic cameras in Tehran had been hacked for years, and their images encrypted and transferred to servers in Tel Aviv, including on Pasteur Street in Tehran where Khamenei was killed.
Israel managed to disable certain parts of about 12 mobile phone towers in the Pasteur Street area on Saturday. The goal of this disruption was to trick communication devices into showing that the network was busy, thus preventing any potential warning or alert calls from reaching Khamenei's security team.
A current Israeli intelligence officer told the newspaper, anonymously: «We knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem».
The newspaper reported that «the intelligence picture of Tehran was provided by (Unit 8200) of Israel’s sophisticated signals intelligence, and the human sources recruited by its foreign intelligence agency (Mossad), and mountains of data handled by military intelligence in daily briefings».
An intelligence officer told the newspaper that Israeli pilots used a specific type of missile called «Sparrow», varieties of which could hit a target the size of a dining table from more than 1000 kilometers away.
The newspaper quoted intelligence sources saying, «Khamenei would appear publicly, but nonetheless he took some precautions; it was unusual for him not to be in his hideout, and he had two hideouts – even if he had been in them, Israel would not have been able to reach him with the bombs it possessed».
A person briefed on the operation told the «Financial Times» that the attack on Iran had been planned for months, but officials adjusted their operation after US and Israeli intelligence confirmed that Khamenei and senior officials would meet at his complex in Tehran on Saturday morning.
According to two people familiar with the matter, Israeli intelligence had information from signals intelligence; such as the hacked traffic cameras and deeply compromised mobile phone networks. One of them said it showed that the meeting with Khamenei was proceeding as scheduled, with senior officials headed to the location.
Despite the certainty in Tel Aviv that Khamenei was present at the intended attack site, the United States relied on a human source, according to two people familiar with the situation for the newspaper.
The US President announced on Saturday, on his social network «Truth Social»: «Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, has been killed». He added that the people of Iran now have the «greatest» opportunity to regain control of their country.
Tehran responded to the attacks by launching missiles towards Israel and Arab countries. Israel, along with several regional countries including Qatar, the UAE, and Jordan, announced they had intercepted missiles launched by Tehran into their territories, while major airlines suspended flights to countries in the region with several closing their airspace.
