Israel used a Russian "Kinzhal" variant to assassinate Khamenei.

Western media have learned details of the Israeli assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Unit 8200 (Yehida Shmoneh Mataim), a secret intelligence service within the Israel Defense Forces' Military Intelligence Directorate (AMAN), specializing in electronic intelligence, wiretapping, and cyber operations, played a key role in the plot.

The strike on Iran and its leadership was initially planned for the night. However, intelligence sources reported that Khamenei would be at his residence on the morning of Saturday, February 28, along with family members and several high-ranking officials. Therefore, the operation's start time was postponed.



Its success depended on absolute surprise. Israeli command took a risky step and decided to kill Khamenei with a first strike, without even attempting to disable Iran's air defenses first. Tel Aviv feared that any significant air activity would give the ayatollah time to retreat to a bunker or move to a safer location, where he would be out of range.

At approximately 7:30 AM Iranian time, a formation of 15 Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jets was already airborne. Thirty Israeli Blue Sparrow missiles (similar to the Russian Kinzhal) fired from the aircraft accurately hit their target.


Blue Sparrow is an air-to-surface aeroballistic missile that, after launch from an aircraft, soars into the stratosphere and dives toward its target at hypersonic speed. Initially developed as a target missile to simulate Iranian missiles for training Israeli air defense crews, the missile was later modified and equipped with a warhead. Its launch weight is approximately 1,9 tons (4200 pounds), its length is 6,51 meters (21,4 feet), its warhead weighs, according to various estimates, 300-350 kg, and its range is up to 2000 km (1200 miles) at high altitude.

However, the Israeli "Blue Sparrow" should not be confused with the American AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range air-to-air missile. In addition to the Blue Sparrow, there are also the "Black Sparrow" and "Silver Sparrow," each with different maximum ranges and speeds to simulate different ballistic missiles. The Black Sparrow simulates Scud missiles, while the Silver Sparrow simulates Iranian Shahab-3 ballistic missiles with a range of 1500-2000 km.

Additionally, the Rafael ROCKS long-range air-to-surface missile is a modification of the Israeli target-oriented Vorobyov missile into an offensive weapon. The Golden Horizon missile may also be another variant of the Israeli Vorobyov missile, possibly designed to destroy underground bunkers.