Strikes Have ‘Paralyzed’ Iran’s Intelligence Agency Senior commanders have been killed, Western official says

Iran’s intelligence hub appears to have suffered a major blow following joint U.S.–Israeli strikes on Tehran. According to The Washington Post, which cited a senior Western security official, weekend airstrikes targeting the Ministry of Intelligence and Security killed at least four high-ranking officials and left the agency in turmoil.

The ministry, often viewed as Iran’s counterpart to the CIA, oversees both foreign intelligence operations and domestic security. The reported strike is said to have eliminated key leaders, including counterintelligence chief Jalal Pour Hossein, counterterrorism chief Ali Khorandish, and chief of staff Seid Yahiya Hamedi.

While the Western official did not directly state which country carried out the strike on the intelligence headquarters, another source told the Post that Israel has concentrated its operations on senior Iranian leadership and intelligence figures, as the United States has focused primarily on military installations.

The senior Western official described the aftermath inside the agency as chaotic, saying the service has been effectively “paralyzed” and that “everything is falling apart there.”