WANA (Jun 30) – A senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has spoken of an Israeli plan to target a high-level meeting of the heads of Iran’s branches of power. Ali Larijani said Israel intended to bomb the session with key officials present and then move on to target the Supreme Leader himself—plans that, he said, were ultimately foiled by divine intervention as well as security precautions.

 

Referring to enemy threats during the 12-day conflict, Larijani also revealed he had received a direct death threat. He said: “Their plan in this war was to strike IRGC commanders and other key sites in the country. They thought the people would quickly turn against the system and that they could use threats to peel away some officials from the government. These threats targeted both military-security and political figures. On Friday, I received a call telling me I had 12 hours to leave the country or at least get out of Tehran, or I’d meet the same fate as my friends like Martyr Bagheri and Martyr Rashid. I gave them an appropriate response.”

 

The Supreme Leader’s adviser added that at the start of the conflict, Iran was at a tactical disadvantage and caught off guard by Israel’s initial strikes.

Fire of Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot is seen following the Israeli strikes on Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

He elaborated on Israel’s plan to hit the Supreme National Security Council and the heads of Iran’s branches of power in a specific meeting: “After attacking the leadership meeting, they intended to target the Supreme Leader next. All of these plots were thwarted with divine help, although there were also concrete security measures in place. At the same time, the people mobilized—even those who had issues with the government stood behind the country, creating a sense of national solidarity rooted in our people’s culture and civilization.”

 

Larijani stressed that Tuesday of the war’s first week was especially critical: “Vital decisions were made that day, significantly shaping the course of the conflict. Israel had planned a series of operations aimed at toppling the Islamic Republic, but those calculations failed because they underestimated the culture and civilization of the Iranian people.”

 

As a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, Larijani concluded: “The Zionist regime and the United States have never been able to truly understand or assess the real culture, resilience, and historical identity of the Iranian people. This fundamental miscalculation has been a key reason for their repeated failures.”

People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)