Israel Targeted Top Iranian Leaders in Attack’s Opening Strikes

At least one gathering of senior officials and military leaders was hit, but it was not immediately clear whether the effort to kill them had succeeded.

The first strikes in Israel’s attack on Iran, which began on Saturday alongside the United States, had a central goal: Assassinate the regime’s top leaders.

Israeli forces bombarded multiple parts of the capital, Tehran, on Saturday morning, targeting at least one gathering of the country’s senior officials and military leaders, the Israeli military said. The status of much of the leadership remains unknown.

Satellite imagery showed a plume of black smoke and extensive damage at the secure compound of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. The photos, taken by Airbus on Saturday morning, showed collapsed buildings at the compound, which typically serves as Ayatollah Khamenei’s residence.

Hours after the initial strikes, the leader’s location was still unclear.

Israel and Iran each gave conflicting reports about whether Ayatollah Khamenei had likely been killed in a strike.

In a televised speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said “there are many indications" that the supreme leader had been killed in an attack, which he said, destroyed the “compound of the tyrant Khamenei.”

About the same time Mr. Netanyahu was speaking, Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry told ABC News that Ayatollah Khamenei was “safe and sound.”

The effort to kill Iran’s leaders matches President Trump’s daunting goals for the “massive and ongoing” attacks he ordered on Iran. While Mr. Trump previously suggested he was considering a limited attack, he ultimately ordered a major assault that he said should lead to the ouster of Iran’s clerical rulers.

Analysts said that if Ayatollah Khamenei were indeed killed, it would be the culmination of a longstanding hope by Israel and the United States to unseat the Iranian government. But it would also plunge all sides into the unknown, because it is far from clear who would take his place.

The attacks also appear to have hit a part of Tehran that is home to Iran’s hard-line former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Times has verified videos that show a strike hitting Square 72, a residential area in the Narmak neighborhood where Mr. Ahmadinejad is known to live. There was no immediate information as to his whereabouts at the time of the blast.

During the 12-day war with Israel last June, Israeli forces assassinated several top generals, including the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as nuclear scientists. Many of the strikes also took place in the opening Israeli attack, which was launched in the middle of the night.

Anticipating potential strikes by the United States or Israel, Iranian officials had begun setting up backup succession plans to ensure continuity if key leaders were eliminated, experts and officials said.

The New York Times reported earlier this month that Ayatollah Khamenei had created a succession plan for top military and government officials. He also delegated responsibilities to a tight circle of confidants who would make decisions in the event of his death.

Yet it was unclear who would directly replace the supreme leader were he assassinated and the country’s theocracy remained intact.

The Israeli military said it had struck later in the morning on Saturday, rather than at night, in an effort to catch Iranian officials off guard.

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