Israel says it has killed more than 250 senior Iranian officials after decades of espionage and the use of artificial intelligence

The reason? Most candidates identified by US intelligence “they were dead“. There was a second group, but there was no guarantee that they would still be alive. They would have to resort to “a third wave”, and soon “they would not know anyone.”

With these words, Trump revealed the effectiveness of the Israeli ‘Lion’s Roar’ campaign to assassinate the leaders of the Islamic Republic. The Washington Post Now it reveals its tactics: a mix of Artificial Intelligence and tactical experience that impresses even the United States.

The Ayatollah and Supreme Leader Ali Jameneiwho died in the first hours of the conflict, was the most prominent target. But up to 250 Iranian commanders have fallen in this first month of war. Ali LaryaniSecretary of the Supreme National Security Council; Esmail JatibMinister of Intelligence; either Gholamreza Soleimanihead of the Basij militias, are among them.

Las decapitation tactics of the Israeli secret services have been being perfected for decades. They can involve years of preparation and complex stratagems. In the fall of 2024, they managed to eliminate several Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon with explosive batteries in searches y walkie-talkies that they had persuaded the militiamen to buy.

This network is fed by multiple agents recruited in the heart of Tehran by Tel Aviv to provide information, in addition to security operations. computer hacking of security and traffic cameras, paid platforms online and the electronic barriers that Iran imposes to control the Internet access of its citizens.

Given the enormous amount of information that comes through these sources, the person in charge is a new Artificial Intelligence platform that provides clues on how to achieve the objectives you set.

“This data was always within our reach, but without AI they were impossible to process“explains Raz Zimmt, director of Iran Research at the Institute for National Security Studies. “Now, Israel can take advantage of them.”

From there, Israel chooses among the multiple ‘decapitation tactics’ it has developed: remote detonation bombs, supersonic missiles launched from ‘invisible’ fighter-bombers or drones capable of sneaking through a window in the middle of the night.

The question, however, is whether the selective assassinations of Iranian leaders fulfill the objective of destabilizing the regime. One month after the conflict, the Islamic Republic shows no cracks and remains defiant in the face of the world. The ability to control the Strait of Hormuz allows Iran to put pressure on the global economy.

Meanwhile, Israel has moved away from using ‘beheadings’ as “occasional operational need” a base your military strategy in them, he regrets Ariel LeviteIsraeli security expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Quoted by him Postaccuses the US of letting Tel Aviv “do the dirty work“.

Sources from the US Armed Forces confirm this to the newspaper, assuring that both countries “work together but with separate goals“. The last selective assassination operation led by the US in this context was in 2020: that of Commander Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Iranian Quds Force in Iraq.

In recent years, however, Artificial Intelligence has allowed us to continue several moving targets and within patterns. Thus, the opportunity to assassinate Khamenei was established based on his meetings with ‘the group of five‘, your inner circle. Anticipating that they would meet early on February 28 in their residential complex triggered the operation.

The intelligence work is the result of collaboration between the Mashedthe Israeli secret services in charge of selecting and recruiting informants, and the Unit 8200an elite branch of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) specialized in cyberespionage.

These agencies had to develop after the first ‘cyber war’ between Iran and Israel five years ago. Israeli hackers were able to cause blackouts and water outages at Israeli stations. Tel Aviv responded by infiltrating Tehran’s traffic lights and causing traffic chaos, or preventing Basij militiamen from withdrawing money from ATMs.

Although seemingly harmless, these hacks were intended to penetrate deeply into the Iranian digital system. With each breach, Unit 8200 infiltrated increasingly sensitive databasesuntil finding the same systems of the Revolutionary Guard, the Police and the Army.

Besides, They managed to use Iran’s paranoia against them. The regime has installed various digital ‘switches’ that function as central nodes of electronic communications to interrupt them in case they want to isolate their citizens.

But that implies that the leadership communications They also pass through those nodes. A covert digital operation allowed Israeli intelligence to obtain the emails, messages and calls that were made.

In parallel, Iran had become suspicious. The regime urged members at the highest levels of security to stop using cell phones. It wasn’t enough. “Even if they don’t let you use it at work, you’re going to turn it on as soon as you leave. Nobody lives in a bubble,” explains the source.

The first test of this new system was carried out during the Twelve Day War in June 2025. The system proved to be so accurate that the missile that would ultimately kill Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Republican Guard Aerospace Force, could be redirected in mid-flight.

The target was originally Hajizadeh’s office, but it was achieved reposition your coordinates to finally hit a nearby apartment to where the command had gone. However, the Israelis themselves recognize that the system is not infallible.

Thus, a month after the start of the operation, several officers with whom the Post They are still surprised that the most important target, Ali Khamenei, offered the most obvious target.

Despite the tensions with the United States, which gathered tens of thousands of soldiers in the area, and despite the assassination campaign carried out by Israel the previous summer, the supreme leader chose to meet with his advisors in the heart of Tehran and on the upper floors, instead of the tunnels and fortifications of the complex.

“No one can explain it,” admits one of the Israeli commanders cited. “Any other human being on the face of the planet would have seen that a perfect storm arrived“.