Israel hacked Tehran's traffic cameras, phones to hunt Khamenei: Report
What's the story
Israel reportedly hacked Iran's traffic camera network and mobile phone systems to monitor Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Financial Times, citing current and former Israeli intelligence officials, said nearly all of Tehran's traffic cameras had been compromised for years. The footage was encrypted and sent to servers in Tel Aviv and southern Israel, the report added, citing two sources.
Security breach
One camera angle particularly useful
The report said one camera angle was particularly useful as it showed where Khamenei's bodyguards parked their personal vehicles. This provided insight into their daily routines inside a compound near Pasteur Street in Tehran. Israel reportedly deployed complex algorithms to enhance dossiers on security guards with details like addresses, duty hours, travel routes, and key assignments, creating what intelligence officers refer to as a "pattern of life."
Cyber tactics
Operation aimed at tracking Khamenei, his security detail
The operation, which took years to execute, was aimed at tracking Khamenei. The Financial Times report stated that Israel was also able to disrupt single components of roughly a dozen or so mobile phone towers near Pasteur Street, making the phones seem as if they were busy when called and stopping Khamenei's protection detail from receiving possible warnings.
Mathematical method
Israel employs social network analysis
The FT report quoted a source as saying that Israel used a mathematical method known as social network analysis to parse billions of data points to unearth unlikely centres of decision-making gravity and identify fresh targets. During the 12-day war in June 2025, Israel assassinated more than a dozen Iranian nuclear scientists and high-ranking military officials within minutes of the first strike. The report also speculated that the US had a human source for intelligence.