How Israeli intelligence tracked Iranian leaders in June strike? NYT reveals

Israel developed a new method for targeting key Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists during the 12-day conflict in June 2025.

An analysis by The New York Times revealed that Israeli intelligence tracked high-ranking Iranian officials by monitoring the cell phones of bodyguards accompanying them. This strategy went undetected by Iran’s security and intelligence agencies.

On June 16, Israeli military aircraft struck an underground bunker on a mountainside in Tehran during an emergency session of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Present in the bunker were Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the judiciary, ministers of interior, defence, and intelligence, along with senior military commanders. While the leaders survived, several security personnel were killed in the explosions.

The attacks were part of a larger Israeli operation aimed at infiltrating the upper levels of the Iranian security apparatus. The vulnerability caused widespread outrage until Iranian officials realised that Israel had been tracking the leaders’ movements through mobile phones.

Israeli intelligence exploited an unexpected weakness: by hacking the mobile phones of the leaders’ security guards, they could pinpoint the locations of high-level meetings. Intelligence experts also noted that the information the guards shared on social media inadvertently revealed the leaders’ whereabouts.

The operation was intended to eliminate top Iranian military officials in a secretive strike reminiscent of the notorious “Red Wedding” scenario from Game of Thrones.

By Tamilla Hasanova