Unveiling a Potential Vulnerability: Israel Identifies Iranian Leaders' Bodyguards as a Point of Access

Israel has been focusing on a group of Iranian scientists, whom they call the "weapon group," believed to be working on a device to trigger a nuclear explosion. This revelation comes as Israel carried out Operation Red Wedding, a military operation that targeted senior Iranian military officials, including Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace force.

The operation was the result of a sophisticated intelligence operation. Israeli intelligence managed to hack the phones of bodyguards who accompanied the Iranian leaders, allowing them to track their movements. This intelligence was crucial in the pinpoint strike on the National Security Council meeting that took place on June 16, during Iran's war with Israel, in a bunker 100 feet below a mountain slope in Tehran.

The meeting was attended by top Iranian government officials, the heads of the judiciary and the intelligence ministry, senior military commanders, and President Masoud Pezeshkian. However, despite the precision of the attack, none of the high-ranking officials present were killed.

This is not the first time Israel has targeted Iran's nuclear scientists. Operation Narnia, the military plan to kill off scientists during the war's early days this spring, also targeted a wide variety of Iranian leaders, including the heads of government branches. Israel has made killing Iran's top nuclear scientists an urgent priority, even going so far as to poison two young, upcoming scientists.

Iran, in response to these attacks, has arrested 21 people on charges of spying for the Mossad and working as field and support operators in at least 11 provinces around Iran. They have also executed a nuclear scientist, Roozbeh Vadi, on allegations of spying for Israel and facilitating the assassination of another scientist.

Following the most recent conflict, Iran remains focused on hunting down operatives that it fears remain present in the country and the government. In an effort to strengthen its security, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered extensive security measures, including large contingents of bodyguards and warned against the use of mobile phones and messaging apps like WhatsApp, after discovering that bodyguards were carrying cellphones and posting on social media.

Guards are now supposed to carry only walkie-talkies, with only team leaders who do not travel with the officials allowed to carry cellphones. This cellphone ban for security guards protecting senior officials, military commanders, and nuclear scientists was implemented after Israel's wave of assassinations on the first day of the war.

However, the Israeli jets are not done yet. Since the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, Iran has accelerated efforts to recruit its own spies in Israel. The Israeli domestic intelligence service, Shin Bet, has arrested dozens of Israelis and charged them with being paid agents of Iran, accused of helping collect intelligence about potential targets for Iranian strikes on Israel.

As the conflict between Israel and Iran continues, both nations are taking significant steps to protect their national security and disrupt the other's strategic plans. The race to gain the upper hand in this high-stakes game of cat and mouse is far from over.