'Under rubble for 3 hours': Khamenei's top advisor, once presumed dead, recounts surviving Israeli airstrike

Ali Shamkhani, senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has spoken publicly for the first time since surviving an Israeli airstrike on his Tehran residence during the June 13 offensive. In a televised interview aired by Iranian state TV on Saturday, Shamkhani described being buried under the debris for over three hours, believing at first that the explosion was an earthquake. “My family was sleeping in the next room. I was asleep because it was prayer time and I was waking up when my entire room collapsed and a lot of debris fell on me,” he said. “I was under the rubble for 3 hours. I did my morning prayer under the rubble.”

Shamkhani, who now uses a steam-assisted breathing device for lung recovery, suffered internal injuries and broken ribs. “At first, I thought an earthquake had occurred, and I remained under the rubble for three hours until I heard the sound of a car. At that point, I realised that Israel had targeted me because, in an earthquake, cars cannot move through the streets of Tehran,” he told in the interview. Reports of his death had earlier circulated widely, including confirmations by both Israeli and Iranian sources. However, Iranian state media later carried a letter from Shamkhani addressed to Khamenei, affirming that he had survived.

Advisor suggests he was specifically targeted

In the same interview, Shamkhani stated: “The Zionists know why they targeted me, and so do I. I can’t reveal the reason, but I made their lives miserable.” He dismissed rumours of a leg amputation, saying, “They were falsely claiming they amputated my leg. Let them take it away. What do I need a leg for?” Shamkhani, a former navy commander and head of the Supreme National Security Council, appeared later that day at the funeral for Iranian officials and scientists killed in the Israeli strikes — an event Supreme Leader Khamenei notably did not attend.

A resident living opposite Shamkhani’s residence told Middle East Eye that the blast was so powerful she and her husband were thrown from their bed. “It was a miracle we survived,” she said.

Ali Shamkhani also took part in Saturday’s state funeral held for military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians killed in Israeli strikes earlier this month. He was seen standing alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained conspicuously absent, reportedly due to ongoing security concerns. State media reported that the funeral honoured 60 individuals in total, including 16 scientists, 10 senior commanders, as well as four women and four children.