Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei ‘not off limits’, says Israeli official

As Israel escalates its assaults on Iranian nuclear and military installations, an Israeli official has told The Wall Street Journal that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “not off limits” for Israel and attacking him is a possibility that hasn’t been ruled out.

Similarly, Channel 12’s Amit Segal says an Israeli political source told him, “Israel is not ruling out the possibility of eliminating Ali Khamenei, but it depends on many things.”

The official speaking to the Wall Street Journal further said that “the war would only end either with Iran voluntarily dismantling its nuclear programme or Israel making it impossible for Tehran to reconstitute it.”

Israel has already claimed responsibility for the deaths of senior Iranian generals and nine scientists who were playing a critical role in Iran’s nuclear programme.

This statement highlights Israel’s strategy, which goes beyond neutralising Iran’s nuclear assets and extends to weakening the political and military pillars of the regime.

While some doubt Israel’s ability to eliminate Iran’s nuclear infrastructure—particularly due to its extensive underground facilities—an Israeli official claimed that the strikes have already caused serious damage. The targeted sites included the Natanz, which houses thousands of advanced centrifuges and has reportedly suffered major structural collapse.

Israel’s objectives, meanwhile, remain firm. Its campaign will continue until Iran dismantles its nuclear program or until Israel ensures it cannot be rebuilt. In contrast, a senior White House official reiterated that the US still prefers diplomatic solutions to Iran’s nuclear issue, though they acknowledged that the ongoing military actions are now irreversible.

Oman has already announced the postponement of scheduled US-Iran talks originally set for Sunday, further hindering diplomatic efforts.

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday (Jun 15) claimed to have “completed an extensive series of strikes on targets in Tehran related to the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons project.”

The IDF said that the targets included the Iranian Ministry of Defense headquarters and the SPND nuclear project headquarters.

“The targets included the Iranian Ministry of Defense headquarters, the headquarters of the SPND nuclear project, and additional targets, which advanced the Iranian regime’s efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon and where the Iranian regime hid its nuclear archive," it said in a statement on X.