The CIA and Mossad are reportedly intensifying efforts to locate Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei after he disappeared from public view following his survival of an Israeli occupation airstrike on 28 February, according to a report published by The Times. The report states that US and Israeli occupation intelligence agencies have struggled to determine his whereabouts as Iran’s extensive security measures continue to neutralize surveillance efforts.
According to the report, electronic surveillance capabilities used by Washington and Tel Aviv have become largely ineffective, forcing both intelligence agencies to rely increasingly on human intelligence networks inside Iran. Officials reportedly believe Khamenei has adopted stringent security protocols and completely gone off the grid to prevent his location from being exposed.
Former Mossad division chief Rami Igra told The Times that Western intelligence agencies often rely on tracking low-level couriers, intercepting indirect communications, and attempting to recruit informants to gather information on senior Iranian officials. He acknowledged, however, that Iran’s top leadership operates under exceptionally strict security procedures, making intelligence collection significantly more difficult.
The report further states that Mossad operations inside Iran face major obstacles due to Tehran’s sophisticated counterintelligence apparatus. Iranian security measures reportedly include rigorous background screening, compartmentalized command structures, offline communications, and the alleged use of body doubles to shield senior officials from foreign surveillance and assassination attempts.
Despite sustained efforts by Washington and Tel Aviv to penetrate Iran’s leadership circle, officials cited in the report reportedly admit that establishing reliable human intelligence networks inside the country remains extremely difficult. The limitations have significantly reduced the ability of US and Israeli occupation intelligence services to monitor or target Iran’s highest-ranking officials.
Analysts quoted by The Times argued that further assassination attempts against senior Iranian leaders could prove strategically counterproductive, warning that such operations may reinforce domestic support for Iran’s leadership while deepening regional instability. They added that Iran’s entrenched security infrastructure continues to present a formidable challenge to both US and Israeli occupation intelligence operations.
