The IDF attempted to assassinate a senior Iranian official in Tehran on Friday, targeting Seyyed Ali Asghar Hijazi, a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, the military said.
The IDF said it struck “a senior commander of the Iranian regime” in the Iranian capital. Israeli officials identified the target as Hijazi, a powerful figure in the office of the supreme leader and the deputy head of the leader’s office.
Hijazi has long been considered one of the most influential figures in the supreme leader’s inner circle and was responsible for security within the office, according to Raz Zimmt, head of the Iran and the Shiite Axis program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.
Zimmt said Hijazi’s influence expanded significantly in the late 1990s when many presidential powers related to security — including the suppression of regime opponents — were transferred to him. In that role he worked closely with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Intelligence Ministry and the judiciary.
Hijazi also served as a representative of the supreme leader in sensitive political and security consultations and acted as a key channel for delivering messages to Iran’s three branches of government, Zimmt said.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that Hijazi had been mentioned as a possible successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei after the start of the operation and Khamenei’s killing in the opening strike.
According to that report, Khamenei had previously identified three preferred potential successors during last year’s war: judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei; Hassan Khomeini, a grandson of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who is seen as relatively moderate; and Hijazi.
Khamenei's bunker under Tehran
(Video: IDF)
More recent reports have indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the supreme leader, has been selected as successor by Iran’s Assembly of Experts.
Earlier Friday, the Israeli Air Force destroyed a large underground bunker in central Tehran built beneath the leadership compound of the Iranian regime.
About 50 fighter jets took part in the strike, dropping roughly 100 munitions, according to the IDF.
IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said senior regime officials had continued using the bunker because they believed it was secure.
“Senior regime officials continued using the bunker because they thought it was protected and impenetrable — they were wrong,” Defrin said.
He said the military is still assessing the results of the strike to determine which officials were present at the time and whether any were killed.
“The destruction of the bunker is another significant blow to the regime’s ability to maintain continuous functioning and deepens the destabilization of the regime,” Defrin said.