Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei ‘avoided assassination’ by going underground, Israel says

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on June 13.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has said that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei avoided an assassination by going underground “to very great depths” during the 12-day war between the two countries, AFP reported.

A Hezbollah supporter holds a portrait of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a gathering outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 25, 2025.(AP)

"I estimate that if Khamenei had been in our sights, we would have taken him out," Katz said in an 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.

According to the Associated Press, Khamenei had not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and killed several top Iranian commanders and scientists.

People walk next to a mural with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a street, early hours of ceasefire, in Tehran, Iran, on June 24.(Reuters)

Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had hinted at different times during the air war that Khamenei's life might be at risk, as the conflict could lead to "regime change". The war between Israel and Iran ended with a US-brokered ceasefire on June 24.

A Reuters investigation, citing five sources with direct knowledge of succession planning, said that the 86-year-old Supreme Leader had gone into hiding with his family and was protected by the elite Vali-ye Amr unit of the Revolutionary Guards.

Khamenei appeared publicly on Thursday after he spoke in a recorded video broadcast on Iranian state television, claiming victory in the war with Israel and saying the US’s intervention achieved nothing.

“The Islamic Republic emerged victorious and delivered a harsh slap to America’s face”, he said in a pre-recorded video message, adding the US “gained no achievements from this war.”

The White House responded to Khamenei's video message, saying that he was trying to “save face.”

"Any commonsense, open-minded person knows the truth about the precision strikes on Saturday night," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. "They were wildly successful.”