Tehran: In a dramatic revelation that has raised tensions across the Middle East, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has reportedly survived a high-precision Israeli airstrike on June 16 by escaping through a hidden emergency route. According to multiple sources including Iranian state media and foreign intelligence-linked reports, the strike was part of a covert operation mirroring tactics previously used against Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.
The airstrike targeted a top-secret meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council in western Tehran. According to the Iranian outlet Fars News Agency, six precision-guided missiles struck key entry and exit points of the heavily fortified building. The method appeared intended to trap occupants and disable communications, echoing a "Nasrallah-style" assassination attempt attributed to Israeli intelligence. In that earlier attack, similar techniques were used to prevent escape or external support.
President Pezeshkian, along with other senior Iranian officials, was reportedly inside the facility at the time of the attack. Though minor injuries were sustained including a leg wound to the President the group managed to flee through a hidden exit route that had been installed in anticipation of such attacks. Power was reportedly cut during the strike, adding to the chaos and the urgent need for an alternate evacuation plan.
Speaking days later to journalist Tucker Carlson, Pezeshkian confirmed the incident, stating unequivocally, “They did try, yes … but they failed.” He directly accused Israel of masterminding the attack but stopped short of implicating the United States, saying there was no evidence of American involvement.
While Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the incident as is typical in its covert military actions regional analysts believe the operation was part of an escalating shadow war between Iran and Israel. The attack followed a wave of Israeli strikes that allegedly eliminated several senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists over recent months.
Iranian officials claim this attempted assassination represents a dangerous new escalation and a violation of international norms. However, the incident has also highlighted internal resilience and preparation within the Iranian leadership especially in their capacity to counter elite-level threats.
Meanwhile, security experts and human rights observers have raised concerns that such high-profile assassination attempts may provoke retaliatory measures by Iran or its proxy militias, potentially destabilizing the already volatile region further.
As tensions continue to build, observers warn that a cycle of covert operations and retaliations may be unfolding, threatening regional peace and drawing in broader international actors. The survival of President Pezeshkian through a secretive escape route may become a symbolic moment in Iran’s ongoing defiance of external pressure but it also raises the stakes in an already dangerous geopolitical contest.