CIA Tracked Khamenei For Months
New reporting reveals the CIA tracked Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's movements for months, providing the intelligence that enabled the decisive strike that killed him. The operation highlights a deep level of U.S. intelligence penetration into the Iranian regime and the high-stakes nature of modern intelligence warfare.
This operation has deep roots in the history of U.S. intelligence in Iran, dating back to the 1953 CIA-orchestrated coup, known as Operation Ajax, which overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh. That event installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, an American ally, and ushered in decades of resentment that fueled the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The strike mirrors the 2020 assassination of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad's airport. In that operation, the U.S. relied on a combination of intelligence, including information from informants at the Damascus airport where his flight originated. Intelligence sharing with key allies was critical. In the Soleimani strike, Israeli intelligence helped confirm his location and provided crucial details to the U.S. The current operation similarly relied on a close partnership, with the CIA passing "high fidelity" intelligence on Khamenei's position to Israel, enabling the joint strike. Such targeted killings depend on penetrating an adversary's inner circle. For the 2020 Soleimani strike, informants within Syrian and Iraqi security and airline personnel reportedly provided tips on his movements. This level of human intelligence, combined with advanced electronic surveillance, allows for tracking high-value targets over extended periods. The operation against Khamenei was timed to maximize impact, striking a leadership compound in Tehran during a Saturday morning meeting of top officials. Follow-on strikes targeted the locations of key intelligence and military leaders, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in an effort to decapitate the regime's security structure. The official justification for such strikes often centers on preventing imminent threats. Following the Soleimani killing, the Trump administration stated he was planning attacks on U.S. diplomats and military personnel and had approved an attack on the American embassy in Baghdad. The death of the Supreme Leader, who had no publicly designated successor, creates a significant power vacuum. This raises the prospect of an intense internal struggle for control within Iran, further destabilizing the region amid a major military confrontation with the U.S. and Israel.
