U.S. and Israeli Spies Intensify Hunt for Iran’s Missing Supreme Leader

Overview

• After the Feb. 28 strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei has not made verifiable public appearances and intelligence agencies are racing to establish whether he is alive and where he is being sheltered.
• Electronic surveillance has yielded few leads because sources say Mojtaba avoids phones and other digital signals, prompting analysts to point to possible hideouts such as Tehran’s underground tunnels or a fortified military site near Qom.
• U.S. and Israeli services have shifted from cyber and signals work to human intelligence, with Mossad relying more on agent networks, informants and couriers to try to trace contacts who might lead to him.
• Claims by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that he met Mojtaba have been publicly disputed by former Israeli operatives and former officers say Tehran may be using body doubles and multiple locations to obscure the leader’s presence.
• Finding or proving Mojtaba’s death would carry major consequences for regional diplomacy, military planning and Iranian domestic legitimacy, but intelligence veterans warn recruiting reliable sources inside Iran and confirming identity will be exceptionally hard.