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How American and Israeli intelligence agencies closely monitored Khamenei for months before his assassination

OAN Staff Katherine Mosack and Brooke Mallory     March 3, 2026

Intelligence agencies from the United States and Israel, spearheaded by the CIA, reportedly monitored the now-deceased Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for months to identify the optimal window for a decisive strike on his Tehran compound.

Khamenei’s tenure as supreme leader, spanning over 36 years, made him the longest-serving head of state in the Middle East at the time of his death.

The operation culminated on Saturday morning when Israeli fighter jets first bombed the complex, killing the 86-year-old Iranian supreme leader along with several family members and dozens of senior Iranian officials — 48 Iranian leaders to be exact.

Although it was a synchronized joint operation, the specific strike that killed Ayatollah Khamenei was carried out by Israeli fighter jets using intelligence provided by the United States.

Nonetheless, the U.S. launched the first wave of the broader campaign, firing over 100 Tomahawk missiles from warships and launching B-2 stealth bombers from the continental U.S. to neutralize Iranian air defenses and missile sites.

The attack was a masterclass in inter-agency cooperation. While the CIA provided the high-fidelity tracking that pinpointed the “daylight window,” the operational success on the ground and in the air relied on three primary Israeli intelligence branches:

• Mossad: The Mossad was the “boots on the ground” for this mission. Reports from the Financial Times and Times of Israel indicate that the Mossad had successfully embedded assets within Tehran. These operatives provided the final visual verification that Khamenei had entered the compound just minutes before the strike. The agency reportedly leveraged “gray market” routes to smuggle in specialized hardware — including encrypted “software bridges” — to maintain communication with local assets despite the regime’s digital blackouts.

• Aman (IDF): Aman provided the technical and tactical “jigsaw puzzle” pieces that made the strike possible. Israel’s elite signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit was instrumental in hacking almost all traffic cameras in Tehran to monitor the movements of Khamenei’s security detail in real-time. Aman’s Intelligence Directorate built the “pattern of life” files for the other 48 senior officials killed in the strike, ensuring that the 30 precision-guided bombs dropped by the IAF hit multiple buildings within a 60-second window.

• The IAF Intelligence Wing: While the Mossad and Aman found the target, the Air Force’s internal intelligence coordinated the flight paths. They worked alongside the U.S. to “blind the blinder,” using electronic warfare platforms to suppress Iranian air defenses so that Israeli F-35s could operate directly over Tehran with “impunity.” IAF intelligence was responsible for the last-minute shift from a “dark-of-night” assault to the 9:40 AM daylight strike, betting correctly that the surprise of a morning attack would catch the leadership before they could retreat to deeper bunkers.

U.S. Agencies Involved

• The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): The CIA acted as the primary architect for the “decapitation” phase of the operation. The agency spent over eight months mapping Ayatollah Khamenei’s “pattern of life,” utilizing human assets and advanced behavioral analytics. It was a CIA “high-fidelity” intelligence report that confirmed the Saturday morning meeting, prompting the pivot from a night mission to a daylight strike to catch the leadership above ground.

• The National Security Agency (NSA): The NSA provided the “digital backbone” for the strike by intercepting the regime’s most secure communications. The NSA successfully cracked the encrypted mobile and radio networks used by the IRGC leadership. This allowed the U.S. and Israel to listen in as the meeting was being scheduled, confirming that Khamenei, the Defense Minister, and the IRGC Chief would all be in the same room. Working with U.S. Cyber Command, the NSA deployed non-kinetic effects to disable Iranian communication towers in the Pasteur Street district just before the missiles hit, ensuring the guards couldn’t call for reinforcements or warn the target.

• The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA): While the CIA watched the leader, the DIA focused on the regime’s weapons. The DIA provided the “target packages” for the broader operation, identifying over 1,000 strategic sites, including hidden missile silos and naval bases in the Persian Gulf. Following the strike, the DIA has been responsible for confirming the deaths of the 48 regime officials and assessing the degradation of Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

• U.S. Space Command & National Reconnaissance Office: The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) provided 24/7 high-resolution satellite surveillance. This allowed pilots and commanders to see “real-time” movements at the Tehran compound, ensuring the strike hit the specific buildings where the meeting was taking place. Before physical bombs or missiles hit their targets, USSPACECOM, in coordination with U.S. Cyber Command, also launched non-kinetic effects to “blind” the Iranian military.

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