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Report: Israel hacked Tehran traffic cameras to track Khamenei ahead of assassination

54 0
03.03.2026

Israel hacked into Tehran’s extensive traffic camera network in order to track the bodyguards of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Iran’s cameras are believed to be part of the state’s surveillance apparatus, allowing authorities to identify and pursue protesters and regime opponents. But the Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, was able to co-opt it for use against the regime, the report said.

FT said Israel gained access to the cameras years ago, and found that one particular camera was angled in such a way that it showed where members of Khamenei’s security team parked their cars.

Through the cameras, Israeli intelligence built files on the guards’ addresses, work schedules, and who they were assigned to protect.

On the day of the attack, Israel and the US also disrupted cellular service on Tehran’s Pasteur Street, where Khamenei was assassinated, so those trying reach the bodyguards and deliver possible warnings would receive busy signals, per the report.

“We knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem,” an Israeli intelligence official told the Financial Times. “And when you know [a place] as well as you know the street you grew up on, you notice a single thing that’s out of place.”

Israel used AI tools and algorithms it had developed to sort through mountains of data it was amassing on Iran’s leadership and their movements, according to an official who spoke with the British daily, which said the bulk of the work was performed by the IDF’s Unit 8200.

The massive data mining operation allowed the military to track Khamenei to the Saturday meeting where he was struck, and assured Mossad and the CIA that senior officials were on their way to the meeting.

The CIA also had a human source who provided key intelligence, according to the sources. No further details were provided.

Khamenei, who had led the Islamic Republic since 1989, was killed in an Israeli airstrike Saturday morning during the opening salvo of the US-Israeli campaign that has hammered Iran in the days since. Iran has said it will convene its Assembly of Experts as soon as it can to name a successor.

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