On June 16, just four days into the conflict, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council met inside a fortified bunker, 30 meters beneath a mountain slope near Tehran. Present were President Masoud Pezeshkian, senior intelligence officials, and top military commanders. Believing they were safe, none carried mobile phones. Yet minutes after the meeting began, Israeli jets dropped six bombs at the bunker’s entrances. No leaders were killed inside, but their guards outside were struck.

Iran soon discovered the fatal flaw: Israel had hacked the mobile phones of bodyguards who waited outside, using years of careless phone use and social media posts to map out the locations of nuclear scientists and commanders. This infiltration allowed Israeli airstrikes and missiles to eliminate them during the war’s first week.

Former Iranian vice president Sassan Karimi admitted that while leaders avoided phones, their drivers and guards did not, making them easy targets. Another former senior official, Mostafa Hashemi Taba, confirmed Israel had penetrated Iran’s highest decision-making circles.