Iran’s president was reportedly injured in an Israeli air strike targeting a secret underground facility in Tehran. Masoud Pezeshkian suffered a leg injury as he attended an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council, Iranian state media reports, adding he and others had to flee through an emergency shaft.
It is said six bombs targeted — and blocked off — six entry and exit points of the secretive site in the Iranian capital on June 16 during the 12 days of fighting between Israel and Iran. All top officials at the meeting survived the attack which also cut off the building’s electricity and ventilation system, according to the Fars news agency which is closely linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Other senior officials reportedly in attendance included parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei.
The Fars news agency claimed the attack had similarities to the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Lebanon.
It said officials, including Mr Pezeshkian, suffered “minor injuries to their legs while leaving” via the emergency hatch.
Iran has now begun investigations to find a possible insider following the attack, reports say.
The strikes on the site came on the fourth day of the war between Israel and Iran.
The fighting began after Israel launched a series of attacks, mainly targeting Iran’s nuclear programme and senior generals.
Israel claimed it started the military action because Iran was close to acquiring atomic bombs — something Tehran denied — and the US went on to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities.
Mr Pezeshkian last week told political commentator Tucker Carlson that he believed Israel had tried to assassinate him.
He said: “They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed.
“I was in a meeting. We were discussing the ways to move forward, but thanks to the intelligence by the spies that they had, they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting.”