Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has barred all electronic communications and speaks to commanders through a “trusted aide” in fear of assassination, the New York Times reported on Sunday morning, citing three Iranian officials. The officials, said to be familiar with Khamenei’s emergency war plans, said that fears over Israeli infiltration into Iran and its security echelon had “rattled the Iranian power structure, even Ayatollah Khamenei,” as per the NYT. Khamenei’s precautions come as Iranian state-affiliated media warned locals of mobile tracking.
They stated that Israel has been using cell phone tracking to identify and carry out assassinations in Iran, including those of nuclear scientists. This comes following US President Donald Trump’s decision to join Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, and after the NYT previously reported that Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him as supreme leader, should he be killed.
The report noted he instructed Iran’s Assembly of Experts, which is tasked with appointing a supreme leader, to swiftly choose his successor from the three names he provided, a process that would otherwise take months. (Source)
