TEHRAN, Iran: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sustained minor leg injuries during an Israeli missile strike last month that reportedly targeted a meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, according to a report by Iran’s Fars News Agency on Saturday.
The attack took place on June 16 while top Iranian officials, including leaders of the three branches of government, were gathered in a secure underground section of a building in western Tehran, Fars reported.
“The attack occurred before noon on Monday, June 16, while a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was being held with the heads of the three branches of government and other senior officials in the lower floors of a building in western Tehran,” the report said.
“The attackers targeted the building’s entrances and exits by firing six bombs or missiles to block escape routes and cut off air flow.”
The Iranian news agency reported that six missiles struck the building’s entry and exit points, resembling a tactic used in a previous assassination attempt on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Officials reportedly escaped through a pre-planned emergency exit, the agency reported, noting that Pezeshkian was “injured during the evacuation but was able to exit safely.”
The report also said Iranian authorities suspect a possible internal leak, citing the accuracy of the Israeli strike.
Investigations are now underway to find a possible insider because of the precise nature of the attack.
Iran has arrested more than 700 people in the wake of the war on charges of collaborating with Israel, and has attempted to push through a new emergency spy law that aims to impose harsher penalties, including the death penalty.
Fars criticised Western and Israeli-affiliated media outlets for ignoring a “blatant act of state terrorism” while condemning Iranian leaders’ religious rulings against figures like US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mohsen Rezaei, an IRGC general, also told state TV that Israel “struck six points at the location where the Supreme National Security Council was meeting, but not the slightest harm was done to any of its members”.
However, in an interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson, Mr Pezeshkian accused Israel of trying to assassinate him, though he had not admitted to having been injured. “They did try [to assassinate me], yes…They acted accordingly, but they failed,” he said.
A 12-day armed conflict between Israel and Iran broke out on June 13 after Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian military, nuclear, and civilian targets, resulting in at least 606 deaths and 5,332 injuries, according to Iran’s Health Ministry.
In response, Tehran carried out missile and drone attacks on Israel, killing at least 29 people and injuring over 3,400, based on data from the Hebrew University.
The fighting ended with a US-brokered ceasefire that began on June 24.
