The assassination of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was the culmination of decades of intelligence gathering by Israeli secret services, with crucial support from the CIA over the last six months, according to experts and officials. Khamenei was killed along with seven senior Iranian security leaders and about a dozen family members in near-simultaneous strikes within 60 seconds, Israeli military officials said. Forty other senior Iranian leaders also died in the attack.
The killing opened an air offensive launched by Israel and the US aimed at overthrowing the clerical regime in Tehran, plunging the Middle East into renewed chaos. However, some experts described it as a possible strategic error that could alienate potential supporters or open the way for more radical opponents. 'Israel is in love with assassinations … and we never learn that it is not the solution,' said Yossi Melman, an Israeli analyst. 'We have killed all the leaders of Hamas. They are still there.'
The timing was determined by CIA intelligence about a meeting of top Iranian officials in Tehran, including confirmation that Khamenei would attend, according to the New York Times. Israeli spies had built a detailed file on Khamenei's daily routine over many years. 'It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle,' said a former CIA veteran. 'Everything you do leaves a print.'
Reuel Gerecht, a former CIA targeting officer, said the US provided significant technological assets, but Israel built the human intelligence networks on the ground. Reports in Israeli media that a photograph of Khamenei's remains was shown to Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu were plausible, he added. The Mossad has focused on Iran for decades, enabling operations such as the assassination of a top nuclear scientist with a remote-controlled machine gun.
