Financial Times details how Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed

The Financial Times reported Monday that years of Israeli intelligence operations enabled the precise assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

The Financial Times reported on Monday, March 2, detailed accounts of the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, describing it as the result of years of Israeli intelligence work and deep infiltration into the highest levels of the Islamic Republic.

The newspaper said Israel had hacked Tehran’s traffic cameras years before the killing, monitoring the movements of Khamenei’s security detail and drivers near Pasteur Street and his heavily guarded compound.

The report drew comparisons with the 2024 killing of Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, noting that unlike Nasrallah, Khamenei did not live in constant hiding, though he sometimes used fortified bunkers that would have been resistant to the munitions deployed.

Citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the report said nearly all of Tehran’s traffic cameras were compromised, with encrypted footage transmitted to servers in Tel Aviv and southern Israel, helping build detailed “patterns of life” on protection teams.

According to the report, sophisticated algorithms analyzed data including home addresses, work shifts, commuting routes and assignments, forming part of a multi-year intelligence campaign involving Israel’s Unit 8200, Mossad human sources and vast streams of military data.

The Financial Times said the real-time intelligence was one of hundreds of information channels used by Israel and the CIA to determine that Khamenei, 86, would be in his office on the decisive morning of Saturday, along with senior officials.

Israel also disrupted components of about a dozen telecommunications towers near Pasteur Street, the report said, causing phones to appear busy and preventing Khamenei’s security team from receiving potential warnings.

More than six current and former Israeli intelligence officials told the newspaper the killing was ultimately a political decision rather than purely a technological achievement, taken when it was deemed easier to act before a full-scale war forced leaders into underground shelters.

The Financial Times noted that not all operational details surrounding the assassination are public and some may never be disclosed, as Israel and the United States seek to protect sources and methods still used to pursue other targets.

Despite hopes among some policymakers that Khamenei’s death might spur internal political shifts, even US officials acknowledge significant barriers to meaningful regime change given the challenges faced by opposition movements within Iran.

Some argue the US backing of Israel’s aggressive campaign may alienate moderate regional actors and entrench hardline positions, complicating future diplomatic engagement and reconciliation efforts.

Meanwhile, US expert assessments suggest that the strategic goals behind the joint operation, including dismantling Iran’s regional influence and securing long-term stability remain far from being realized, even after the dramatic assassination.

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