Tehran’s traffic cameras allowed Israel to track Khamenei, senior Iranian officials — report

Israel hacked into Tehran’s extensive traffic camera network in order to track the bodyguards of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials, the Financial Times reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Iran’s cameras are believed to be part of the state’s surveillance apparatus that allows them to identify and pursue protesters and regime opponents. But the Mossad was able to use them against the regime.

Israel gained access to the cameras years ago, and found that one particular camera was angled in such a way that it showed where members of Khamenei’s security team parked their cars. Through the cameras, Israeli intelligence built files on the guards’ addresses, work schedules, and whom they were assigned to protect.

Israel and the US also disrupted cellular service on Tehran’s Pasteur Street, where Khamenei was assassinated, so those trying reach the bodyguards and deliver possible warnings would receive busy signals, per the report.

“We knew Tehran like we know Jerusalem,” an Israeli intelligence official tells the Financial Times. “And when you know [a place] as well as you know the street you grew up on, you notice a single thing that’s out of place.”

Israel used AI tools and algorithms it had developed to sort through mountains of data it was amassing on Iran’s leadership and their movements, according to official who spoke with the British daily.

That allowed them to track Khamenei to the Saturday meeting where he was struck, and assured the Mossad and CIA that senior officials were on their way to the meeting. The CIA also had a human source who provided key intelligence, according to the sources.