Israel's 'Game of Thrones': Inside 'Operation Red Wedding' that killed 10 Iranian senior officials in 12 minutes

The Israeli operation that took out the senior command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and many of the advisors of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was the result of an extensive operation that began last November.

It was at the end of November 2024 that the Israeli defence establishment decided to begin a combat procedure for a large-scale operation in Iran, which would severely damage the nuclear project, according to the Hebrew website Walla.

The team deliberated for 10 hours to outline the tactics that would help IDF maximise its achievement. It was decided that the mission would centre around senior figures in the General Staff, who are responsible for command and control, the Iranian air defence system, its unmanned aerial vehicle system, missiles and launchers, and finally the components of the nuclear project.

Starting in February, they met again and decided to pursue several solutions simultaneously. An attack on several groups at the same time would allow the opening of the secure corridor from Israel to Iran, it was decided.

The secret plan which required extreme precision to take out the senior figures in the Iranian security establishment prompted the IDF to give it the code name: "The Red Wedding", inspired by the series "Game of Thrones". In the "Red Wedding" episode of the series, a planned massacre takes place during a political wedding. The operation takes place against the backdrop of a violent betrayal within the family.

The IDF did exactly that: Eliminate Iran's security elite of 20 senior officials in 12 minutes.

More than 200 fighter jets participated in attacking over 100 targets throughout Iran, the Walla report added. Each squadron had to handle a senior officer. The main challenge was dealing with the distance between the various geographical locations and the locations of the senior officers - some were at home while others were at headquarters and other locations.   

The successful assassinations were a critical turning point since in the initial moments when the Army and the IRGC tried to build a picture of the situation and transmit orders in response to the IDF action, there was no one to make the decisions, IDF sources told Walla.

Soon, it was clear that the three most senior military commanders of the Iranian regime had been eliminated: the Chief of Staff of the regime's armed forces, Mohammad Hossein Baqeri; the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami; and the commander of Khatam al-Anbiya (Emergency Command), Khatem-Gholam Ali Rashid. As time passed, the list grew.

The senior group that was eliminated was not only the top decision-makers but also security "icons" in Iran. 

Middle East