Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian was lightly injured in an Israeli air strike targeting a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15, Al Jazeera reported, citing a senior Iranian official statement. Pezeshkian sustained minor leg injuries and was forced to escape through an emergency exit. Further, the official confirmed that the assassination attempt targeted the heads of the three branches of government in an effort to overthrow them. “This attempt will not pass without Israel paying a price,” he said.
According to Al Jazeera, the Israeli strike targeted a high-level meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council in western Tehran, where President Masoud Pezeshkian and the heads of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government, along with other senior officials, were in attendance.
The building’s entrances and exits were hit by six missiles to block escape routes and cut off air flow.
Electricity was severed following the explosions, but Iranian officials managed to escape through a pre-designated emergency hatch, including the president, who is said to have sustained minor leg injuries while evacuating, as per Al Jazeera.
The news agency said authorities launched an investigation into the possible presence of Israeli spies, given the accuracy of the intelligence the “enemy” possessed. Meanwhile, in an interview last week with US media figure Tucker Carlson, Pezeshkian said Israel tried to assassinate him. “They did try, yes … but they failed,” he said.
“It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting… They tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting.” The comments come less than a month after Israel launched its unprecedented June 13 bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.
According to Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, at least 1,060 people were killed in Iran during the conflict. The Israeli attacks drew waves of retaliatory drone and missile fire, killing 28 people in Israel, according to authorities. Iran targeted Israeli military and intelligence headquarters with ballistic missiles and drones before the US brokered a ceasefire.
