Israeli Hack of Iranian Bodyguards’ Phones Led to Strike on Tehran Bunker – NYT By The Media Line Staff Israel’s military intelligence gained access to the mobile phones of Iranian bodyguards, allowing fighter jets to strike a secret leadership meeting in Tehran on June 16, according to Iranian and Israeli officials. The New York Times […]
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The Media Line: Israeli Hack of Iranian Bodyguards’ Phones Led to Strike on Tehran Bunker – NYT
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Israeli Hack of Iranian Bodyguards’ Phones Led to Strike on Tehran Bunker – NYT
By The Media Line Staff
Israel’s military intelligence gained access to the mobile phones of Iranian bodyguards, allowing fighter jets to strike a secret leadership meeting in Tehran on June 16, according to Iranian and Israeli officials. The New York Times reported a devastating security lapse that exposed Iran’s top political and military leaders despite extraordinary precautions.
The emergency session of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council was being held in a fortified bunker 100 feet beneath a mountain slope. Attendees included President Masoud Pezeshkian, the chief of the judiciary, intelligence ministers, and senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards. Although the leaders themselves avoided bringing devices, their bodyguards and drivers carried phones — some even posting on social media — enabling Israeli forces to track their movements.
Within minutes of the meeting’s start, Israeli jets dropped six bombs on the compound, sealing entrances and killing several guards. The officials inside survived but emerged shaken, with Pezeshkian suffering a leg injury and the interior minister hospitalized for respiratory distress.
The strike was part of Israel’s wider campaign to dismantle Iran’s military and nuclear leadership. In the first week of fighting, Israeli operations killed dozens of commanders and scientists, often relying on electronic data and compromised communications. Tehran has since executed one nuclear scientist accused of espionage and detained scores of others suspected of collaborating with Israel.
Iranian analysts and officials acknowledged the breach. Former vice president Mostafa Hashemi Taba said infiltration had reached “the highest echelons” of government. President Pezeshkian later warned that had the strike wiped out the leadership, the country could have been thrown into chaos.