NYT: CIA Told Israel The Perfect Time To Hit Khamenei
- 1.03.2026, 14:20
- 5,782
The operation began with critical U.S. intelligence.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had been tracking Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei for months to result in choosing the perfect place and time to eliminate him.
According to The New York Times, the assassination of Iran's supreme leader and other senior Iranian officials came after a close intelligence exchange between the United States and Israel.
"According to people familiar with the operation, the CIA had been tracking Ayatollah Khamenei for months, becoming increasingly convinced of his whereabouts and behavior. Then the agency learned that a meeting of senior Iranian officials would be held Saturday morning at a leadership building in downtown Tehran. Most importantly, the CIA learned that the supreme leader would be at that location," the sources said.
As a result, the U.S. and Israel decided to adjust the timing of the attack, in part to take advantage of the intelligence gained. The original plan was to strike at night under the cover of darkness, but the timing was decided to be changed to take advantage of information about a meeting at a government complex in Tehran on Saturday morning.
The leaders were to meet at the location where the offices of Iran's president, supreme leader and Iran's National Security Council are located.
Israel determined that senior Iranian officials from the Defense Ministry would attend the meeting, including Mohammad Pakpour, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Aziz Nasirzadeh, Defense Minister; Admiral Ali Shamkhani, head of the Military Council; Seyed Majid Mousavi, commander of the Air and Space Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Mohammad Shirazi, deputy intelligence minister; and others.
The operation began around 6 a.m. in Israel as fighter jets took off from their bases. The strike required relatively few planes, but they were armed with long-range and precision-guided munitions.
Two hours and five minutes after the planes took off, around 9:40 a.m. Tehran time, long-range missiles struck the complex. At the time of the strike, senior Iranian national security officials were in one of the complex's buildings. Khamenei was in another building nearby.
The United States and Israel also gathered detailed information on the whereabouts of key Iranian intelligence officials. In follow-up strikes after Saturday's attack on the leadership complex, the residences of intelligence leaders were hit, sources familiar with the operation said.
A key Iranian intelligence official escaped death, but top Iranian intelligence officials were eliminated, sources with knowledge of the operation said.
Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims
You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com
