Israel was able to track and target senior Iranian political and military leaders and nuclear scientists during the June war between the countries by hacking and tracking the phones of their bodyguards and drivers, the New York Times reported Saturday.

In its opening strikes on Iran in the early hours of June 13, Israel swiftly killed multiple top generals and nuclear scientists, among them Revolutionary Guards chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, Armed Forces chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, and missile chief Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, stunning and paralyzing Iran for long hours.

The Times report, which quoted several senior Iranian and Israeli military and intelligence officials, said that though top Iranian leaders were aware of the security threat posed by smartphones and avoided using them, this instruction did not extend to their security detail, enabling Israel to track and eliminate them.

“We know senior officials and commanders did not carry phones, but their interlocutors, security guards and drivers had phones; they did not take precautions seriously and this is how most of them were traced,” Sasan Karimi, a former deputy vice president for strategy in Iran’s government, told The Times.

The Times noted that Iran had been aware of Israel’s plan to kill top officials and had boosted their security. In doing so, it unwittingly allowed Israel to track and target the senior officials.

It further said that multiple guards were careless with their phone use prior to the war, posting updates about their doings on social media, further........

© The Times of Israel