It did not begin with bombs. It began with data. For years, Israeli and American intelligence agencies quietly built a detailed picture of life inside one of the most guarded compounds in Tehran.
By the time the strike came on a Saturday morning near Pasteur Street, the operation was the result of decades of planning, technological advances, and a political decision taken at the highest levels, Financial Times reported.
Years of silent surveillance
Israeli intelligence had gained access to much of Tehran’s traffic camera network long ago. Video feeds were allegedly encrypted and routed to servers outside Iran, allowing analysts to watch movements around key government buildings, the news report said.
One camera, positioned at a useful angle, helped track the routines of drivers and security personnel assigned to senior Iranian leaders. By studying where they parked, when they arrived and whom they escorted, analysts built what intelligence officers describe as a “pattern of life” -- a detailed map of daily habits.
Advanced software processed huge amounts of data. Files on members of
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's security detail reportedly included home addresses, shift timings, and regular travel routes.
The machinery behind the mission
The intelligence picture was shaped by multiple agencies. Israel’s signals intelligence unit, known as Unit 8200, gathered electronic data. Mossad recruited sources on the ground. Military intelligence analysed the information and produced daily briefings.
“In Israeli intelligence culture, targeting intelligence is the most essential tactical issue -- it is designed to enable a strategy,” said Itai Shapira, a brigadier general in the Israeli military reserves and 25-year veteran of its intelligence directorate. “If the decision maker decides that someone has to be assassinated, in Israel the culture is: ‘We will provide the targeting intelligence’.”
The news report quoted Itai Shapira, a retired Brigadier General, as saying that if the political leadership decides someone must be eliminated, the intelligence community’s job is to make that possible.
Israel has a long history of targeted killings abroad, including militants and nuclear scientists. But eliminating a leader as senior as Khamenei was seen as a far more serious step, one that required political approval beyond technical capability.
Why this moment?
Officials interviewed by Financial Times said the decision to act was based on timing. When US and Israeli agencies confirmed that Khamenei would attend a Saturday morning meeting with several senior officials at his compound, they saw an opportunity. Once open war began, they believed Iran’s leadership would quickly move to underground bunkers.
Unlike Hassan Nasrallah, who spent years in hiding before being killed in Beirut in 2024, Khamenei was not permanently underground. Though he had bunkers available, he did not always use them.
The US role
The operation, known as Operation Epic Fury, was approved after coordination between Washington and Jerusalem. At 3:38 pm eastern time (2:08 am IST) on Friday, US President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead while travelling on Air Force One.
US forces reportedly carried out cyber operations first, disrupting Iran’s ability to detect or respond to incoming attacks. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, later said American actions were aimed at blinding Iran’s defence systems, the news report said.
The strike itself was carried out in daylight. Israeli jets, flying long distances to avoid detection, fired around 30 precision-guided munitions at the compound. Advanced missiles, including long-range systems capable of striking small targets from over 1,000 kilometres away, were reportedly used.
Double confirmation
For a target of such importance, Israeli doctrine requires two senior officers working independently to confirm the location and identity of the target. Signals intelligence -- including compromised communications and camera feeds -- suggested the meeting was proceeding as planned, the news report said.
US intelligence reportedly contributed a human source who confirmed Khamenei’s presence.
 "How Israel and US secretly tracked Khamenei for years before deadly strike")
