On Saturday, February 28, Tehran residents began their work week, anxiously preparing for the Persian New Year and Ramadan celebrations, amid diplomatic efforts aimed at avoiding war with the United States and Israel.
During that week, the pace of movement increased around and inside the fortified area located in the heart of the capital, which includes the Supreme Leader’s residence and work centers, while Tehran was witnessing tight security measures, following public protests that shook the country in January.
Western estimates indicated that 20,000 people were killed on January 8 and 9, while the authorities spoke of the killing of two thousand people.
Everything changed suddenly, after several explosions rocked the area, and smoke was seen rising from the vicinity of the Pasteur Complex, which includes leadership centers in the heart of Tehran.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced that “Israel launched pre-emptive strikes against Iran.”
Uncertainty continued for hours about the fate of the 86-year-old guide, who ruled Iran for nearly four decades, particularly characterized by an ongoing confrontation with the United States, while suppressing the voices of opponents at home.
That night, US President Donald Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, has died,” stressing that he “was not able to avoid the highly sophisticated intelligence agencies and tracking systems we have.”
Initially, Iranian officials insisted that Khamenei survived the attack. However, on the morning of March 1, an announcer on state television announced, in a voice trembling with emotion, that the country’s top official had been killed.
The authorities gradually confirmed the killing of officials who were participating in a high-level security meeting, including the Chief of Staff, Abdul Rahim Mousavi, the Minister of Defense, Aziz Nasir Zadeh, the head of the War Council, Ali Shamkhani, and the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Muhammad Pakpour.
Later, the New York Times reported that the CIA had been tracking Khamenei for months, and had learned that a meeting of senior Iranian officials would be held that Saturday morning in the fortified Pasteur complex, in the presence of the Supreme Leader and senior Iranian officials.
This intelligence information was transferred to Israel, and two hours and five minutes after the Israeli planes took off, and at approximately 9:40 a.m. Tehran time, long-range missiles hit the complex, at an unusual time for this type of attack.
Commenting on this, Trump said, during the recent G7 summit held in France: “They thought we would not reach them, because we never bomb during breakfast, but we bombed.”
Khamenei was not the only one killed in the attack that led to the outbreak of war in the Middle East. A group of prominent figures were assassinated, including the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Pakpour, Khamenei’s military advisor, Ali Shamkhani, and Defense Minister Aziz Nassir Zadeh.
His family was not spared either; His daughter, his daughter-in-law, his son-in-law, and his granddaughter were killed. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who did not hold any official position but was a central figure in his father’s office for years, also lost his wife, Zahraa Haddad Adel, while he also survived with injuries, according to Iranian officials.
A week later, Mojtaba Khamenei was elected as the third guide of the ruling establishment, succeeding his father, but he has not appeared in public until now. Ali Khamenei has always taken strict security precautions. He never left Iran as the regime’s guide, and his speeches were rarely broadcast live on television or announced in advance. During the 12-day Israeli war on Iran, in June 2025, it was reported that he resided in a shelter.
However, in clear defiance of the threats, he did not completely disappear from sight. On February 17, he delivered his final public speech in the Husseiniya of his office in Tehran, where he received a group of officials and notables of East Azerbaijan Province, especially the city of Tabriz, in the northwest of the country, during a traditional annual meeting.
In that speech, Khamenei said that the United States wanted to “swallow” Iran, and he urged people to remain calm and go about their business “without any worries.”
According to Agence France-Presse, the presence of Ali Khamenei in the heart of Tehran on February 28, instead of hiding in another place in the vast country, shocked many, given the risks of this step, hours after reports were published indicating that he was transferred to a secret location.
“You won’t believe it”
On the other hand, the attack revealed a deep American-Israeli intelligence penetration into Iran, and reflected a weakness at the strategic level that had appeared during the war launched by Israel, in June 2025, during which it assassinated key figures in targeted strikes.
According to the Financial Times, Israel years ago hacked road surveillance cameras in Tehran, including those surrounding the command complex. This enabled her to determine the identity of the guards, their routines, and their movements.
Trump said at the G7 summit that satellite surveillance means that “if someone walks in, and they have a badge with their name on it… they can find out the name and get the serial number.”
He added: “We can see things, and you will not believe the quality of the things we have. That is why we have achieved such great success.”
