Iranian FM admits Israel, US had highly accurate intel on Iran’s senior officials

Iranian security authorities are investigating whether human infiltration contributed to the intelligence breach, the foreign minister said.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he narrowly escaped an Israeli airstrike at the start of the war after meeting in the same compound where Ali Khamenei was later assassinated, while also acknowledging that Israel and the United States appeared to possess detailed intelligence on the whereabouts of Iran’s senior leadership.

Speaking during a more than 90-minute interview with Iranian journalist Javad Moghouei, Araghchi recounted being with Ali Hejazi, chief of staff to former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when the strike occurred.

“I was with Ali Hejazi, chief of staff to [former] Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at nine o’clock, and we were finally going over a report on the negotiations,” Araghchi recalled.

“I happened to have reached the part describing the heavy wartime atmosphere… then suddenly, there was an attack.”

Araghchi said the strike left “everything … in a state of ruin” before security personnel escorted him away from the compound.

He also said Israel and the United States appeared to have highly accurate intelligence on the locations and movements of Iran’s senior officials, allowing them to target the country’s leadership.

“This coincidence, this insight, and the fact that it happened at 9:30 in the morning – I no longer attribute this to technology or artificial factors,” Araghchi said. “I really don’t know what to make of it.”

He said Iranian security authorities are investigating whether human infiltration contributed to the intelligence breach.

“Now the security forces are pursuing this,” Araghchi said.

“I believe this security vulnerability is not only about infiltration and data theft. Sometimes it also affects the orientation of decision-making, and even worse, it influences and shapes our psychological environment.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Araghchi said he has never met Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is widely believed to have assumed a central role in Iran’s leadership following the war.

Asked about his relationship with Mojtaba Khamenei, Araghchi replied: “I never have [met him]. I haven’t seen him during this time. I don’t think anyone except maybe one or a few people have seen him.”

His remarks highlighted the secrecy surrounding Mojtaba Khamenei’s position within the Islamic Republic.