JERUSALEM (VINnews) — After we were informed on Saturday night of the elimination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, it became clear that he was among the first targets struck in Iran as part of the formidable opening blow delivered by Israel and the United States against Tehran. The world was stunned by the success of that initial strike, and additional details are now emerging about the unbelievable operation in the heart of Iran.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Israel had built up the intelligence over many years, with nearly all the cameras in Khamenei’s vicinity in central Tehran effectively in its hands.

The information from those cameras was encrypted and transmitted in real time to servers in Israel, effectively turning Tehran into a completely transparent space for Israeli intelligence — to the extent that a senior intelligence official admitted to the newspaper, “We knew Tehran as we know Jerusalem.”

The massive infiltration of the municipal video surveillance system was not used merely for passive observation. It enabled Israel to deploy advanced artificial intelligence algorithms to conduct an in-depth analysis of the “patterns of life” of the regime’s leadership and their inner circles.

Israeli intelligence studied over time the daily routines of drivers, bodyguards, and personal aides, precisely identifying regular travel routes, schedules, and the locations where security personnel typically parked convoy vehicles. One of the most critical points in the surveillance network was a security camera located near Pasteur Street, in the heart of the sensitive government compound, which provided Israel with what was described as “golden” intelligence on every movement within Khamenei’s stronghold.

At the decisive moment, when conditions were ripe, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided high-risk human intelligence, thereby opening the window for carrying out the operation. Sources familiar with the details revealed that the CIA had tracked the Supreme Leader for many months and studied his patterns of behavior. The breakthrough came when the agency learned of a meeting of senior regime officials scheduled for Saturday morning at a government compound in the heart of Tehran.

The most critical piece of information was that Khamenei himself would be present at the location. Following the “highly reliable” intelligence passed to Israel, the two countries decided to change the original timing of the strike, which had been planned to take place under cover of darkness. The decision to wait until morning was intended to exploit the new window of opportunity and deliver a devastating blow to the Iranian leadership.

According to a report in The New York Times, the operation began at around 6:00 a.m. (Israel time), when Israeli fighter jets took off from their bases armed with long-range precision munitions. Approximately two hours and five minutes later, the missiles struck the compound in Tehran. At the time of the attack, Khamenei was in one building, while other senior officials — including Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad Pakpour, and Military Council head Ali Shamkhani — were in a nearby building. An Israeli security source stated that despite Iranian preparations for war, Israel achieved complete “tactical surprise.”

According to a comprehensive investigation also published in The New York Times, U.S. President Donald Trump’s dramatic decision to launch a full-scale war against Iran was largely influenced by aggressive pressure from Israel, despite a small number of voices in his circle who tried to prevent escalation. At the center of the struggle for the president’s ear were two opposing figures: on one side, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was determined to end the diplomatic negotiations and deliver a decisive blow to what he viewed as a weakened regime; on the other, right-wing media personality and presidential confidant Tucker Carlson, who feared irreversible American entanglement.