Months of planning and last-minute decisions: behind the scenes of the attack that killed Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei

Portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is displayed alongside Iranian flags, candles and a book of condolences at a mosque in Cape Town. Getty Images via BBC The attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, did not occur in the middle of the night, as one might expect, but in the middle of the morning. This happened because the United States and Israel decided to take advantage of crucial information that had arrived hours earlier. ✅ Follow g1’s international news channel on WhatsApp LIVE: FOLLOW coverage of the conflict in real time For months, they had been waiting for an opportunity in which important Iranian figures could be gathered and discovered that Khamenei would be in a compound in the center of Tehran on Saturday morning. They also had the location of other senior military and intelligence figures who were meeting at the same time. See the videos that are trending on g1 For months, the US and Israel monitored the supreme leader’s movements. The methods used are secret, although American President Donald Trump alluded to them in a social media post. “He was unable to avoid our highly sophisticated intelligence and tracking systems.” This may have been a human source reporting information, but it is more likely a technical trace of Iranian individuals. In the 12-day war that took place in June 2025, Israel targeted scientists and officials linked to Iran’s nuclear program and reportedly used infiltration of telecommunications and mobile phone systems to understand the movements of individuals. This sometimes included tracking the movements of bodyguards attached to key officials. In the long term, this can help build a “pattern of living” for predicting and understanding activities, as well as looking for moments of vulnerability. Iran knew that the supreme leader was in the crosshairs of his enemies, and yet the failure to identify and neutralize these vulnerabilities in the months that followed suggests a profound flaw in Iranian security and counterintelligence — or highlights the ability of Israel and the United States to continually adapt their methods to find new ways to track him. The Iranians may also have calculated that a daytime attack was less likely. In this case, according to the New York Times, the information came from the CIA, but was passed on to Israel so that it could carry out the attack. There are indications that there is a division of labor, with Israel prioritizing strikes against Iranian leadership targets and the US against military targets. The information provided enough advance knowledge about the movements of the supreme leader and other officials to make it possible to plan an attack using planes capable of firing long-range missiles. Rather than an isolated attack to decapitate the leader, the plan was for this attack to signal the start of a broader campaign, and it was brought forward to take advantage of the window of opportunity. Israeli fighter jets may take around two hours to reach Tehran, but it is unclear from what distance they are capable of firing their munitions. When the decision was made, Israeli jets reportedly used 30 bombs to attack the complex at around 9:40 am local time. This may have happened because the supreme leader still used an underground bunker below the complex for his protection, although it was not one of the deepest in the regime. It may have been necessary to use multiple rounds of ammunition to reach the target at a sufficient depth. Other locations in the Iranian capital were also hit, including the office of President Masoud Pezeshkian, who later released a statement saying he was safe. The deaths of three high-ranking Iranian defense officials were confirmed by Iran: Defense Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani; the Minister of Defense, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh; and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, General Mohammad Pakpour. When the jets reached their target, it was early morning in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where President Trump was meeting with some of his top advisors to follow the developments. It would be hours before confirmation of the supreme leader’s death was released. Iran, however, was prepared for this possibility, with reports that succession plans not only for Khamenei, but also for several other senior officials, had already been drawn up. This means that it is not yet clear what impact this assassination will have on the course of the conflict. Nuclear program and ‘unique opportunity’ The new attacks on Iran come after weeks of negotiations between Washington and Tehran in an attempt to reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. In a speech on Saturday, American President Donald Trump said that Iran “has tried to rebuild its nuclear program and continues to develop long-range missiles.” Trump also said the US will reduce Iran’s missile industry to dust and “annihilate” its Navy. The president urged Iranians to use the moment to overthrow the country’s clerical regime. “When we’re done, take power. It will be yours. This will probably be the only chance you’ll have for generations,” he declared. The president also told members of the Iranian security forces that they would receive “immunity” if they laid down their weapons. Otherwise, they would “face certain death.” Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that “a murderous terrorist regime” must not possess nuclear weapons “that allow it to threaten all of humanity.” “I thank our great friend President Donald Trump for his historic leadership,” he added. For analyst Jeremy Bowen, a BBC editor with extensive experience covering the Middle East, Israel and the United States calculated that the Islamic regime in Iran is vulnerable, dealing with a serious economic crisis, the consequences of the brutal repression of protesters at the beginning of the year and defenses still weakened after the attacks suffered in June 2025. The American and Israeli presidents concluded that this was an opportunity that should not be wasted.

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