Ayatollah Khamenei ‘avoided assassination by going underground’: Israel

Israel wanted to assassinate Ayatollah Khamenei but missed the opportunity, Jerusalem admits as Iran’s Supreme Leader re-emerges after a week of silence in a defiant. TV address.

Israel wanted to assassinate Ayatollah Khamenei but he avoided being killed by hiding in a Tehran bunker, Israel’s Defence Minister has admitted.

As Iran’s Supreme Leader emerged for a defiant TV address after a week in hiding, Israel Katz told the country’s Channel 13 TV: “I estimate that if Khamenei had been in our sights, we would have taken him out.”

“But Khamenei understood this, went underground to very great depths and broke off contacts with the commanders who replaced those commanders who were eliminated, so it wasn’t realistic in the end,” he added. “We wanted to eliminate Khamenei, but there was no operational opportunity.”

Mr Katz demurred when asked whether Israel had sought American approval for such an action.

“We don’t need permission for these things,” he said.

Khamenei’s reappearance after days in hiding has calmed increasing speculation that he might have died in an Israeli strike. Appearing on Iranian state TV overnight (AEST), Khamenei accused Donald Trump of exaggerating the impact of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, hailing what he described as Iran’s “victory” over Israel.

Looking tired, the Ayatollah vowed never to yield to US pressure and insisted Washington had been dealt a humiliating “slap”.

“The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration,” Khamenei said, rejecting US claims Iran’s nuclear program had been set back by decades.

The strikes, he insisted, had done “nothing significant” to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Both sides have claimed victory: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities a “historic win”, while Khamenei said Iran’s missile retaliation had brought Israel to the brink of collapse.

In Washington, the true impact of the strikes has sparked sharp political and intelligence

Doubts remain about whether Iran quietly removed some 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of enriched uranium from its most sensitive sites before the strikes – potentially hiding nuclear material elsewhere in the country.

Mr Katz admitted Israel didn’t know where the enriched uranium was, but said the strikes had destroyed Iran’s enrichment capability.

Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”, warning any attempt by Iran to rebuild it would be met with the same determination and intensity.

With AFP