Israel Hacked Tehran's Traffic CCTV to Track Khamenei's Movements

Israeli intelligence is reported to have hacked the extensive traffic-camera network in Tehran, the capital of Iran, to track the movements of the security detail guarding the late country’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other senior Iranian officials. Data from the hack of the traffic CCTV network helped Israeli intelligence monitor Khamenei’s movements before he was declared dead in a coordinated attack by the United States and Israel over the weekend. A report by the Financial Times, citing two sources familiar with the matter, as reported by The Times of Israel and The Times of India, on Wednesday (4/3/2026), stated that over the years Israeli intelligence has quietly tracked the movements of the late Khamenei. According to the Financial Times, nearly all traffic cameras in Tehran have been hacked by Israeli intelligence or Mossad for years. Since Israel gained access to Tehran’s traffic CCTV a few years ago, one CCTV angle was found to be directed in such a way as to reveal where Khamenei’s security detail parked their personal vehicles. This was advantageous to Israel, as it provides insights into daily routines within the heavily guarded complex. Over time, through the traffic cameras, Israel has been able to build a detailed profile, or what Tel Aviv’s intelligence calls a “life pattern”. From the traffic CCTV data, Israeli intelligence has been able to assemble a dossier on the home addresses of Iran’s security guards, their work hours, travel routes, and, crucially, which officials are protected by each guard. According to people familiar with the matter, the footage from Tehran’s traffic CCTV is believed to be encrypted and transmitted to servers in Tel Aviv and southern Israel. “We know Tehran as well as we know Jerusalem,” said an unnamed Israeli intelligence official to the Financial Times. “And when you know it (a place) as well as you know the street you grew up on, you will notice even the smallest thing that is out of place,” he said. Israeli and US intelligence, the Financial Times report adds, also disrupted cellular networks in the Pasteur Street area in Tehran, the site where Khamenei was killed. This was to ensure that anyone trying to contact the guards and give warning would receive a busy signal. According to the official cited by the Financial Times, Israel uses devices and AI algorithms they have developed to sift through the troves of data they have collected about Iran’s leadership and their movements. That enabled Israel to track Khamenei to a meeting on Saturday (28/2) where he was struck by the US-Israel attack.