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Satellite image shows black smoke rising and extensive damage to the compound of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following attacks by the US and Israel
The death of Iran’s supreme leader and other senior officials occurred after close information sharing between the US and Israel. The CIA had been keeping tabs on Khamenei for months, and knew there would be a high-level meeting on Saturday morning. The time of the attack was adjusted, and Israel launched its fighters.
Just before the United States and Israel were about to launch their attack on Iran, the CIA accurately identified the location of what was perhaps the most important target: the Ayatollah Ali Khameneisupreme leader of the country.
The CIA had been coming months ago to follow in the footsteps of the Ayatollahgaining greater confidence in their locations and routines, according to sources familiar with the operation cited by .
The agency then became aware that a meeting of senior officials Iranians would take place on Saturday morning at a leadership complex in the heart of Tehran. The deciding factor: the supreme leader would be on site.
The USA and Israel they then decided to adjust the moment of the attackin part to take advantage of new information that opened a window of opportunity for both countries to achieve an early and decisive victory: that of the main Iranian officials and .
In addition to the country’s supreme leader, the Iranian military leadership was devastated in the attacks, which killed the Minister of Defense, Amir Nasirzadehthe commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Pakpourthe Head of the National Defense Council, Ali Shamkhaniand the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and Sayyid Abdolrahim Mousavi.
The remarkably swift removal of Iran’s supreme leader and his top military leaders reflected the close coordination and information sharing between the US and Israel in preparing the attack, as well as the deep knowledge that the two countries developed under Iranian leadership, particularly following last year’s 12-day war.
The operation also revealed the inability of Iranian leaders to take appropriate precautions to avoid exposing himself at a time when both Israel and the US were sending unmistakable signs that they were preparing for war.
According to sources informed on the matter, before the attack, the CIA transmitted information to Israel that offered “high fidelity” regarding Ayatollah Khamenei’s position.
Israel, using American information and its own, would carry out a operation that I had been planning for months: the selective elimination of Iran’s top leaders.
The US and Israeli governments, which had initially planned to launch the attack during the nightunder cover of darkness, decided to adjust the moment to take advantage of information about the meeting at the government complex in Tehran on Saturday morning.
The leaders would meet at the location where the offices of the Iranian presidency, the supreme leader and the National Security Council of Iran are located. Israel had determined that the meeting would include senior officials of Iranian defense.
A operation began at 6:00 am in Israelwith combat planes taking off from their bases. The attack required a relatively small number of aircraft, but are equipped with long-range and highly accurate ammunition.
Two hours and five minutes after the planes took off, at around 9:40 am in Tehran, the long-range missiles hit the complex. At the time of the attack, senior Iranian national security officials were in one of the buildings in the complex. Khamenei was in another buildingnearby.
In June last year, when planning to attack Iranian nuclear targets was underway, President Donald Trump stated that the United States knew where Ayatollah Khamenei hid and that they could have eliminated him. This information, said a former US official, was based on the same network that the United States used on Saturday.
Since then, however, the information that the United States has been able to gather they only got betteraccording to sources cited by the NYT. During the 12 Day War, the U.S. they found out even more about the way the supreme leader and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps communicated and moved under pressure, the former official said.
The United States used this knowledge to improve its ability to track Ayatollah Khamenei and predict your movements. In attacks subsequent to the attack on the leadership complex on Saturday, places where they were located were targeted. responsible for information services.
According to sources informed about the operation, the senior management of Iranian intelligence agencies were decimated. Only the person responsible escaped of Iran’s intelligence services. Perhaps he was well informed.
