Israeli intelligence operatives allegedly spent years infiltrating Tehran’s vast network of surveillance cameras to closely track Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ahead of the strike that ultimately killed him, according to a report.
By penetrating nearly every traffic camera in the Iranian capital — including one aimed directly at Khamenei’s heavily protected compound — Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency was able to assemble detailed intelligence dossiers that later supported Saturday’s lethal operation, multiple sources told the Financial Times.
“We knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem,” an Israeli intelligence official claimed.
“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.”
According to the sources, images captured through the compromised cameras enabled Mossad operatives to establish a precise “pattern of life” for members of Khamenei’s security detail. The surveillance reportedly revealed where guards parked their vehicles, their home addresses and the specific individuals they were assigned to protect.
That intelligence was part of a larger cache of information used to execute the strike on Khamenei’s Tehran compound Saturday, timed to coincide with a high-level gathering of Islamic Republic security officials.
Sources said the operation to eliminate Khamenei had been under consideration for months. However, planners accelerated the timeline after confirming the supreme leader would personally attend the meeting.
Before President Trump authorized the launch of “Operation Epic Fury,” traffic camera feeds allegedly verified that Khamenei’s meeting was proceeding as scheduled.
Fighter jets then carried out the daytime assault as part of a broader wave of strikes, reducing the compound to rubble. Khamenei was killed in the attack, along with dozens of officials and several members of his family, according to the report.