Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has said that the Israeli military planned to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the recent conflict between the two countries,  but could not find the right moment to do it. In interviews on major Israeli TV channels (Channel 12, Channel 13, and Kan), Mr Katz revealed that Israel was seriously looking for a chance to target Khamenei, but he had gone into hiding. “If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” he told Channel 13. “We searched a lot,” he added.

This is the first time an Israeli official has publicly confirmed that they tried to go after Iran’s top leader. Before this, Israel mainly focused on damaging Iran’s nuclear facilities. Speaking on Kan TV, Mr. Katz said Khamenei hid deep underground and even cut contact with his military leaders. “He went very deep underground... so it wasn’t possible anymore,” Katz said.

During the conflict, on June 17, former US President Donald Trump also wrote online that they knew where Khamenei was hiding and called him an "easy target." But Trump later said the US was not planning to kill him and that regime change was not part of the US plan.

Mr. Katz said Israel was not trying to change Iran’s government, but wanted to shake up the regime and put pressure on it. He compared Khamenei to former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year. Katz warned Khamenei to stay underground for his safety. After the recent ceasefire began two days ago, Katz said Israel was no longer trying to kill Khamenei. “There’s a difference, before the ceasefire and after the ceasefire,” he said.

Iran says it won the war

After the ceasefire, Ayatollah Khamenei made his first public appearance. He said Iran’s nuclear program was not badly damaged by the Israeli attacks and called US statements “exaggerated.” He also claimed that Iran had won the conflict and praised Iran’s missile attacks. “The Islamic Republic won, and gave a hard slap to America,” he said. According to Israel, 28 Israelis were killed in Iran’s missile attacks. But Iran says that at least 627 civilians were killed in Israeli airstrikes.