Israel targeted top Iranian leaders by hacking, tracing their bodyguards' phones

Israel was able to track and target senior Iranian political and military leaders and nuclear scientists during the June war between the countries by hacking and tracking the phones of their bodyguards and drivers, the New York Times noted, Report informs via The Times of Israel.

In its opening strikes on Iran in the early hours of June 13, Israel swiftly killed multiple top generals and nuclear scientists, among them Revolutionary Guards chief Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, Armed Forces chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, and missile chief Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, stunning and paralyzing Iran for long hours.

The Times update, which quoted several senior Iranian and Israeli military and intelligence officials, said that though top Iranian leaders were aware of the security threat posed by smartphones and avoided using them, this instruction did not extend to their security detail, enabling Israel to track and eliminate them.

"We know senior officials and commanders did not carry phones, but their interlocutors, security guards and drivers had phones; they did not take precautions seriously and this is how most of them were traced," Sasan Karimi, a former deputy vice president for strategy in Iran"s government, told The Times.

The Times noted that Iran had been aware of Israel"s plan to kill top officials and had boosted their security. In doing so, it unwittingly allowed Israel to track and target the senior officials.

It further said that multiple guards were careless with their phone use prior to the war, posting updates about their doings on social media, further assisting Israel"s information-gathering efforts.

"Using so many bodyguards is a weakness that we imposed on them, and we were able to take advantage of that," one Israeli defense official said.

After that first devastating blow, bodyguards were ordered to carry only walkie-talkies while on the job.

However, in at least one case, guards violated the orders allowing Israel to again target leaders, the report said, leading to a strike on a bunker during a secretive meeting of Iran"s Supreme National Security Council. President Masoud Pezeshkian was injured in the leg during that June 16 incident, but none of the top officials were killed, though a number of guards were.

"The enemy gets the majority of its intelligence through technology, satellites and electronic data," the new head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said. "They can find people, get information, their voices, images and zoom in with precise satellites and find the locations."