Intelligence on Iranian leaders that Israel collects to prepare assassination operations is being analyzed by a secret Israeli artificial intelligence platform, The Washington Post reported, citing Israeli officials.
They said the artificial intelligence is analyzing data streams obtained by Israeli intelligence through recruited insiders, as well as by hacking thousands of targets in Iran - from street cameras to payment platforms and Internet interception points.
According to Israeli officials, many of the intelligence capabilities currently used to attack the leadership were deployed after an exchange of cyberattacks five years ago. In response to Iranian attacks on water supply networks, Israel launched a wave of strikes, causing transport disruptions in Tehran, closing gas stations and blocking ATMs.
These actions, according to the newspaper’s sources, cover up a massive campaign by the unit to hack Iran's digital infrastructure. "We tried to hack everything that could be hacked," a senior IDF official said. "From phone calls and CCTV cameras to internal security systems." He said the targets included databases of security forces, including those of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military and the police. "We have become increasingly able to access this information," he added.
The newspaper said Israel's ongoing campaign has so far failed to achieve its main goals: eliminating the missile threat, blocking Iran's nuclear program and weakening the regime in order to overthrow it. Dead commanders are being replaced by more radical ones, and protests have not occurred amid the bombings. Israeli officials describe the regime as "battered but "resilient", even triumphant, after a month of strikes by both armies.
The Israeli-American military operation against Iran began in late February. Former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the first few days. The Financial Times reported that hacked surveillance camera data helped Israel strike Khamenei's residence.
The Pentagon is also using artificial intelligence in the context of the war with Iran. Reuters reported that Palantir's Maven AI is being touted as the agency's latest tool. The Wall Street Journal reported that the US military used Anthropic's AI tools to carry out a major airstrike against Iran.