For those who have seen the TV series “Tehran”, the outcome of the attacks onIran these days seems like déjà vu. Five years ago, when the first season of the acclaimed spy story first aired in Israel, it seemed like highbrow fiction, but fiction. Today, after the elimination of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, despite the maniacal security measures by which he was protected, it is reasonable to imagine that the authors really knew a lot.
The planning of the operation: from 2001 to the Mossad
The Financial Times in a detailed report says that the planning of the operation began in 2001, when the then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the Mossad to make Iran its main target.
Hacking, cameras and artificial intelligence
To follow the movements of the elusive leader, theIsraeli intelligence first hacked into Tehran’s vast network of traffic cameras, aiming to track down Khamenei’s bodyguards. Then he used algorithms and artificial intelligence to interpret data and build real-life models of the Ayatollah’s bodyguards. The Mossad apparently managed to puncture the cameras years ago, discovering that at least one was pointed at the place where the security team used to park the armored cars.
Intelligence created files on the guards’ addresses, working hours, shifts and who they were supposed to protect.
Telephone blackout and role of CIA and Unit 8200
According to Ft sources, on the day of the attack, Israel and the The United States cut off cell phone service on Pasteur Street, where the top Shiite cleric was killed: anyone who attempted to contact security to provide any warnings would find the line busy. The painstaking work of the Mossad and the CIA achieved the result of being able to follow all the movements and trace the Rahbar (the Great Guide) until the lethal meeting on Saturday, for breakfast with other senior officials. The CIA, for its part, also had an informant on the ground.
Most of the data interpretation work was carried out byMilitary Intelligence Unit 8200Idf, which used artificial intelligence tools and developed dedicated algorithms to discover the “life pattern” of Khamenei and the people closest to him.
“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 only notice one thing out of place,” he said.
The Sparrow missile attack and the regime change hypothesis
Israel attacked the compound where Khamenei was being guarded using Sparrow missiles, while the planes remained deployed to achieve a tactical surprise effect, despite the alert level in Iran being at maximum.
In total, 30 missiles were allegedly launched against the complex, immediately after confirmation from the informant used by the Americans that the meeting was indeed underway. Now, if the “change regime” actually happens, it will be all thanks to the cameras, the same ones that the special units of pasdaran used to monitor the population and identify young people who participated in the demonstrations. Killed by the tens of thousands revolutionary guards not even two months ago.