The 86-year-old leader, who has ruled Iran since 1989, is now said to be under 24/7 protection by a covert security force created to prevent infiltration and assassination. Officials confirm that even senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were unaware of this group’s existence until recently.
Why is Iran’s top leader hiding under secret protection?
Khamenei’s move comes after Israel intensified its campaign of targeted assassinations—killing 11 senior military officers and 14 nuclear scientists in the past week alone. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that eliminating Khamenei could “bring an end to the conflict.” Defense Minister Israel Katz has gone further, calling Khamenei a “modern Hitler” who “cannot be allowed to continue existing.”
These comments, along with the recent Israeli missile strike on a hospital in Beersheba, have led Iranian officials to take unprecedented security steps. One Iranian source told The Telegraph, “He’s not in a bunker, but his life is in danger, and there is a unit responsible for his protection that no one even knew existed.”
Where is Khamenei now and how is he staying hidden?
Khamenei’s usual base has been the Leadership House complex in Tehran’s District 11. But his recent televised appearances show a very different setting—a brown curtain backdrop with portraits of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini—leading experts to believe he’s broadcasting from a new, undisclosed location.
Video analysis points to the IRGC media operations center in central Tehran, suggesting that Khamenei could be housed nearby or possibly beneath the same building. Officials strongly believe he is not using vehicles to move around the city due to the risk of car bombings, which have become more frequent in Tehran.
How deep is Israel’s intelligence penetration in Iran?
Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, is renowned for its global reach. From the 1960 abduction of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina to the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh using a remote-controlled killer robot, Mossad has a reputation for conducting precise, high-level missions. Last year, Mossad killed Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of Hamas, using a bomb reportedly hidden in his apartment—possibly even inside a toilet tank. The assassination of Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah using bunker-busting bombs in Beirut further proved Mossad’s ability to strike underground targets.
But the most alarming detail for Iranian leadership is that many of these attacks appear to have been made possible by leaks from within Tehran itself. Intelligence reportedly came not from Hezbollah or Gaza, but from people close to Khamenei, raising fears of internal betrayal.
Could the U.S. join an attempt to assassinate Khamenei?
President Donald Trump, who returned to office in 2025, has reportedly vetoed Israeli plans to kill Khamenei in the past. But even Trump has ramped up his rhetoric recently. On Tuesday, he said, “We know exactly where the so-called ‘supreme leader’ is hiding,” while adding the U.S. has “no plans to target him—at least not for now.”
Still, the language is changing. Trump described Khamenei as an “easy target”, indicating that military options are not off the table should intelligence warrant a shift in policy.
How might Israel or the U.S. carry out such a strike?
If an attack on Ayatollah Khamenei were to happen, it would be carefully calculated. Former Israeli national security advisor Yaakov Amidror says Israel would rely on a mix of human agents, signal intelligence, and AI systems to track Khamenei’s movements.
He said, “How we would do it depends on the intelligence. If he’s in a bunker, you use the air force. If he’s in an apartment, you use a drone. If he’s in a car then you use an agent in the street.”
Despite Khamenei avoiding electronic devices, those around him do not. Every call, email, or encrypted message can be intercepted and analyzed by Israeli AI software, which then pieces together patterns to locate his whereabouts.
What happens if Khamenei is killed?
The consequences of Khamenei’s death are hard to predict. He has been the central authority in Iran for over three decades, and his leadership ties together military, religious, and political structures. His sudden death, particularly at the hands of foreign agents, could destabilize Iran, ignite wider regional war, or trigger internal chaos.
Still, according to Iranian officials, Khamenei has no plans to flee. “He won’t flee like the coward Assad,” one insider said. “At a time of this foreign aggression, the nation’s morale depends on his survival.”
In this increasingly fragile moment, one thing is certain: Khamenei is now the most hunted man in the Middle East—and the battle for his survival has moved into the shadows.
FAQs:
Q1: What is Khamenei’s secret protection unit?
A hidden elite force guarding Iran’s leader from Israeli threats.
Q2: Is Israel trying to assassinate Khamenei?
Yes, Israel sees him as a high-value target in the conflict.
