Though Iran claims Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had anticipated that he would be targeted by the US and Israeli forces, the Ayatollah did everything in his ability to stay safe. The Supreme Leader was reportedly in an underground bunker when Israeli bombs hit his compound, but not in one of the two deepest bunkers that only US bombs could have penetrated.
With the escalation of tensions and the possibility of a military attack, Khamenei moved to a private hideout, and the regime officials who wished to meet with him were being blindfolded before being taken to his hiding place. This measure is intended to ensure the secrecy of Khamenei's hiding place and prevent any leaks of its location.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard member, who declined to be named, told Iran International that the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, was among the officials recently taken to Khamenei’s hideout, blindfolded, before he travelled to Oman to meet with officials there.
This month, Khamenei disappeared into a private underground bunker in Tehran, which includes a complex network of interlocking tunnels. This was his second time since the 12-day war with Israel, based on an assessment by senior Iranian military and security officials of the high likelihood of an American attack
Trump had repeatedly asserted that he knew where Khamenei was hiding but did not intend to target him at that time. On June 17, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he knew where Khamenei was hiding, but had no intention of killing him. "We knew exactly where the Iranian Supreme Leader was hiding. He's an easy target, but he's safe where he is now, and we have no intention of taking him out, at least not at this time," he said.
On June 27, Trump asserted that he had saved the Iranian Supreme Leader from an ugly and humiliating death, noting that Khamenei’s post-ceasefire statements claiming victory over Israel were false, and that his country had been devastated.
On Saturday, the CIA identified Khamenei’s hiding place and alerted Mossad. The agency has been tracking Khamenei’s movements with growing precision for months, following his routines and security patterns. According to the New York Times, it reached a turning point after finding out that a high-level meeting of Iran’s political and military leadership, chaired by Khamenei himself, would take place on the morning of February 28 at a secure compound in central Tehran.
