Israel hacked into Tehran’s traffic cameras in order to surveil the daily life of senior Iranian figures in preparation for Operation Roaring Lion, according to a report by the Financial Times published on Monday.
The report said that Israeli intelligence mapped out a “life pattern” for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his security personnel, including travel routes, hours of activity, and the identities of the senior figures who were usually with the late Iranian leader, who was killed in an airstrike on Saturday.
The report also mentions that Israel used artificial intelligence tools, alongside algorithms, to sort through vast amounts of information that was gathered about the Iranian leadership and its movements.
Additionally, the CIA provided another human source to certify the exact location where Khamenei was set to be on the day of his assassination.
How was Khamenei's assassination achieved?
The FT report details that Israel attacked the compound where Khamenei was being guarded using Sparrow missiles, while the planes were deployed during the day in order to achieve tactical surprise, even with the high level of alert in Iran.
In total, 30 missiles were fired against the compound, while cellular towers in the area had been disrupted so that the security personnel’s phones could not receive warning calls.
FT also mentioned that the planning for the operation started in 2001, when then-prime minister Ariel Sharon ordered the Mossad to make Iran a main priority.