According to a report by The Telegraph on Sunday, July 13, 2025, Iranian authorities have confirmed that President Masoud Pezeshkian was injured during an Israeli missile strike that targeted a high-level security meeting in Tehran amid the intense 12-day conflict with Israel in June. The revelation, which had previously only been alluded to by the president himself, was made public by the semi-official Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to the report, the Israeli attack occurred on June 16 during a closed-door session of the Supreme National Security Council. President Pezeshkian, along with top government figures including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, was present at the time.
The missiles, reportedly six in number, struck a government complex in western Tehran believed to house the meeting. The strike targeted entrances and exits, an apparent attempt to trap attendees and eliminate any escape routes. Fars stated that the explosion caused significant damage, severed power to the lower floors, and forced the president and other officials to flee through a pre-planned emergency hatch.
Pezeshkian, 70, is said to have suffered a leg injury while escaping the blast. Several other officials reportedly sustained minor injuries. The precise nature of the attack and the targeting of a top-secret meeting has triggered an internal investigation, with Iranian authorities probing the possibility of insider involvement. Over 700 individuals have been detained in recent weeks on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.
The strike bore similarities to Israel’s earlier targeted killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last year, a point also emphasized by Iranian officials and analysts.
While Iranian state media previously downplayed the incident, President Pezeshkian acknowledged in a recent interview with American political commentator Tucker Carlson that there had been an assassination attempt against him. “They did try [to kill me], yes… but they failed,” he said. However, he did not confirm his injury in that interview.
Pezeshkian’s remarks sparked a wave of backlash within Iran’s political establishment. In an open letter, 24 members of parliament accused him of compromising national security by acknowledging the attempt publicly and showing openness to renewed diplomacy with the United States.
Critics pointed to Pezeshkian’s support for engagement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and his willingness to restart nuclear talks, even after U.S. strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities during the war. They warned that such positions could embolden further aggression from both Israel and the United States.
“From a national security standpoint, such messaging risks inviting further aggression,” the MPs wrote. “If before June 12 there were differing views on resisting American overreach, this war has created rare unity around the need to confront the United States and its Zionist ally.”
The location of the June 16 strike has not been officially disclosed by Tehran, but independent outlet Iran International reported it occurred near Shahrak-e Gharb, an affluent district in western Tehran. Separately, visuals of damage to the National Iranian Radio and Television headquarters, reportedly struck in the same period, were circulated widely.
