Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was recently killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike. British media revealed that Israel had spent years hacking into Tehran’s traffic cameras and monitoring Khamenei’s bodyguards in preparation for the operation to target him.
According to the UK Financial Times, on Feb. 28, when the highly trained and loyal bodyguards and drivers of Iranian officials were on duty near Pasteur Street in Tehran, Israel was observing everything as Khamenei was struck and killed in an airstrike in that area.
Two informed sources said that Israel had, over many years, hacked nearly all traffic cameras in Tehran, encrypting the footage and sending it to servers in Tel Aviv and southern Israel.
One source revealed that a particular camera angle was especially useful, allowing Israel to track where the officials preferred to park their private cars and to observe daily operations in this highly guarded area.
In addition, Israel used complex algorithms to compile profiles on these bodyguards, including their home addresses, duty hours, commuting routes, and, most importantly, the individuals they routinely protected and escorted—creating what intelligence officials called a “pattern of life.”
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At the same time, Israel could interfere with certain components of about a dozen mobile phone base stations near Pasteur Street, causing phones to show busy signals and preventing Khamenei’s security team from receiving alerts.
A current Israeli intelligence security official stated that even before dropping the bombs, “our knowledge of Tehran was as familiar as our knowledge of Jerusalem.”
The official added: “When you know a place inside out, like the streets where you grew up, even the smallest anomalies cannot escape notice.”
