Iran supreme leader was target, went underground: Tel Aviv

Israel would have killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were it possible during the countries’ 12-day war, its Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said on Thursday.

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“I estimate that if Khamenei had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz said in the interview with Israel’s Kan public television.

“But Khamenei understood this, went underground to very great depths, and broke off contacts with the commanders who replaced those commanders who were eliminated, so it wasn’t realistic in the end,” he said.

Israel killed several top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists on June 13 at the start of the war. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had both suggested at various times during the war that Khamenei’s life could be in danger.