How Israel Assassinated Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Israel used an advanced ballistic weapon, which briefly travelled near space before hitting its target and killing Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES

The Blue Sparrow missile, used during Operation Epic Fury, is a long-range missile capable of travelling around 1,240 miles (about 2,000 km), according to The NY Post.

It doesn't work like conventional weapons. After being launched, usually from a fighter aircraft such as an F-15 fighter jet, the missile shoots high into the atmosphere, reaches a peak, and then falls back towards Earth at very high speed to hit the target.

Reports say the strike hit the location where Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials were present, killing them all. The impact and explosion were so severe that the pieces of the missile and debris were scattered across the area.

Israeli officials claimed that the attack killed more than 40 senior Iranian leaders along with Khamenei. Among them was Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Abdolrahim Mousavi, Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi.

Israeli fighter jets, including the F-15 fighter jet, were deployed at 7:30 am local time in Iran for the operation targeting Khamenei. About two hours later, the aircraft launched around 30 missiles towards Khamenei's compound.

According to a senior Israeli official quoted by the BBC, the military publicly released photos and information suggesting that senior commanders were leaving their headquarters to go home for Shabbat dinner, the traditional Friday evening meal.

Israel reportedly misled people by pretending its commanders had gone home for the weekend, while they secretly returned to plan the strike. Some even used disguises so their movements would not raise suspicion.

"We released photos and information suggesting that IDF staff and senior command were going home for Shabbat dinner," an Israel Defense Forces official told BBC.

The attack was initially planned for nighttime, but the timing was later changed. According to sources quoted by The NY Times, Israeli planners decided to launch the strike on Saturday morning because several senior Iranian officials were expected to be meeting in Tehran at that time.

Before the attack, Khamenei was believed to spend most nights in a deep underground bunker. 

Mossad, Israel's main intelligence agency, reportedly monitored the movements of security guards protecting Khamenei and other senior leaders when they arrived on Pasteur Street. The information about guards and officials was sent to Israel, which helped them decide the exact time to carry out the attack.

As the first wave of missiles struck Iran, military command centres of the IDF and the US were reportedly monitoring the situation together in real time. At the same time, Israeli forces disabled around a dozen mobile phone towers near Khamenei's compound.