Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was spied on for years.Image: keystone
Surveillance cameras became Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s own deadly trap: the Israeli secret service hacked them and created a movement pattern for years.
March 3, 2026, 3:05 p.mMar 3, 2026, 3:06 p.m
Ali Khamenei, his bodyguards and high-ranking regime members were monitored by Israeli intelligence for years. And of all things via surveillance cameras, which were actually intended to be used by them to monitor others – especially demonstrators. That’s what she reports Financial Times with reference to several sources.
Traffic cameras and cell phone networks hacked
Accordingly, the traffic camera network was hacked to create a movement pattern. A camera showed where the targets were parked. Addresses, working hours and people who were protected and accompanied by the bodyguards could be identified.
At the same time, mobile networks could also be hacked. Therefore, Khamenei could not be warned because the cell phone signals in the area appeared busy, the report says.
The timing was well thought out
Israeli intelligence has been preparing for years. One member told the newspaper that they had internalized the city of Tehran as if they had grown up there. “And when you know a place as well as the street you grew up on, you notice every detail that doesn’t fit in.”
In the end, the Mossad and the CIA knew exactly when Khamenei was with whom and where. This is how they managed to kill him specifically. Khamenei had planned a meeting with high-ranking regime members on Saturday morning – an opportune time for his enemies to strike.
Full details of the operation were not made public for strategic reasons. Shortly after the killing it became known that the CIA had been working with Israel. According to the Financial Times, she had confirmed that the targets were on their way to the meeting – so the attack could begin.
However, the aim was to kill Khamenei before the war really started. Because then there is a risk that he will disappear into underground bunkers. “If he had been in such a bunker, Israel would not have been able to kill him with the bombs they have,” a source told the Financial Times. (front)