\n<\/p>\n
Before the missiles ever lit up the Tehran sky, the hunt was already over.<\/p>\n
For months, U.S. intelligence officials were quietly tracking the movements of Iran\u2019s most powerful men, piecing together a detailed picture of where and when they would gather. Analysts monitored patterns, locations, and leadership schedules \u2014 waiting for a rare window when the regime\u2019s top figures would be in one place at the same time.<\/p>\n
That window came early Saturday morning in Tehran, when senior political and military leaders assembled inside a heavily guarded compound housing the offices of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the presidency, and the Supreme National Security Council.<\/p>\n
According to The New York Times, citing people familiar with the operation and officials briefed on the intelligence, the CIA had tracked Khamenei for months and passed what\u2019s described as \u201chigh fidelity\u201d intelligence on his location to Israel ahead of the strike. U.S. and Israeli officials reportedly adjusted the timing of the operation after learning that multiple senior leaders would be gathered together.<\/p>\n
Israel had assessed that those expected at the compound included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Military Council head Admiral Ali Shamkhani, IRGC Aerospace Force commander Majid Mousavi, and Deputy Intelligence Minister Mohammad Shirazi, among others.<\/p>\n
Around 8 a.m. Tehran time, Israeli fighter jets reportedly took off, armed with long-range precision munitions. Roughly two hours later, missiles struck multiple locations in Tehran, including the leadership compound.<\/p>\n
Senior national security officials were gathered in one building, while Khamenei was in another nearby structure, the Times reported. An Israeli defense official claimed that the strike was \u201ccarried out simultaneously at several locations in Tehran,\u201d adding that Israel achieved \u201ctactical surprise\u201d despite Iranian preparations for war.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s state news agency IRNA also confirmed Sunday the deaths of several senior military figures Israel said it targeted, including Shamkhani, Pakpour, and Nasirzadeh.<\/p>\n
Hours after Khamenei\u2019s death was confirmed and Iran\u2019s leadership reeled from the blow, Tehran unleashed a volley of retaliatory missiles and rockets toward Israel \u2014 fulfilling vows from Iranian officials to launch the \u201cfiercest offensive in history\u201d in response to what they called an unprovoked attack and the killing of their supreme leader. The strikes triggered sustained air-raid sirens across Israeli cities, forcing residents into shelters as air defenses worked overtime.<\/p>\n
As of the latest reports, Israeli rescue services and military officials have said that at least ten people have been killed on Israeli soil from Iran\u2019s retaliation \u2014 including civilians in Beit Shemesh and Tel Aviv \u2014 and dozens more wounded across central and southern regions as a result of incoming missiles and intercept debris.<\/p>\n
Last June, as plans were being discussed to potentially strike Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump said the United States knew where Khamenei was hiding and could have killed him. At the time, Trump referred to the Iranian regime as \u201cevil,\u201d underscoring how he viewed the leadership in Tehran.<\/p>\n
Months of surveillance and intelligence coordination converged in a strike that reshaped Iran\u2019s power structure in a matter of minutes \u2014 and ignited one of the most volatile escalations in Middle East history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n