Iran says its president was injured in Israeli airstrike last month
Fars news, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Cops, described the strike as bearing similarities to the Israeli operation that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut . The report said: 'The attack occurred before noon on Monday, June 16, while a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was being held with the heads of the three branches of government and other senior officials in the lower floors of a building in western Tehran.'
'The attackers targeted the building's entrances and exits by firing six bombs or missiles to block escape routes and cut off air flow.' Other senior officials present at the meeting reportedly included parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei.
Several people were injured, with Fars reporting that 'some officials, including the president, suffered minor injuries to their legs while leaving' and escaped using 'an emergency hatch that had been planned in advance'. It also noted that power was cut off on the affected floor after the explosions. The revelation is in line with claims made by Mr Pezeshkian in a recent interview, in which he accused Israel of trying to assassinate him.
Speaking to political commentator Tucker Carlson, the president said: 'They did try, yes… They acted accordingly, but they failed.' However, he did not mention being injured during the interview. Despite the president's calm tone, his remarks triggered a backlash among Iranian lawmakers. Twenty-four MPs signed an open letter accusing him of undermining national security.
The criticism was also aimed at his apparent willingness to re-engage with the United States, despite tensions over American airstrikes on nuclear sites and Iran's recent expulsion of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 'From a national security standpoint, such messaging risks inviting further aggression,' the MPs wrote.
A new emergency espionage law is also being debated, which would introduce harsher punishments for spying, including capital punishment. Fars did not disclose the precise location of the strike, though opposition outlet Iran International reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted an area near Shahrak-e-Gharb in western Tehran on the same day.
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