Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had a narrow escape; fled via emergency hatch from Israeli airstrike: Report

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suffered an injury to his leg after an Israeli missile struck a building in Tehran, wherein he was holding a meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, according to an Iranian report.

 

Pezeshkian, however, managed to escape via an emergency hatch but suffered injuries to their legs as they fled, according to the Fars news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

 

The alleged strike happened on the fourth day of the 12-day war. Besides  Pezeshkian, the meeting also had Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, and other senior officials in attendance.  

 

According to the Fars report, Israel dropped six bombs or missiles on the access and entry points of the building to prevent those inside from leaving. This also cut the air supply inside the building. The power to the building was also cut off, but the members of the council, including the President, managed to flee via the emergency hatch. The report added that Israel had "accurate information" about the location, triggering suspicion that the Israelis had inside information.

 

Though Fars didn't report where the attack happened, an earlier report by Iran International reported an airstrike near Shahrak-e Gharb in western Tehran.  The attack also mirrored the strike that took out Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. 

 

The report came as Pezeshkian told US journalist Tucker Carlson in an interview about how Israel attempted to assassinate him but failed. He pinned the blame on Israel, but exonerated the US. On Carlson's question as to how he was certain of the attempt, Pezeshkian said: "I was in a meeting… but thanks to the intelligence by the spies had, they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting." 

 

Though Israel targeted the top command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, it has so far avoided the political leadership. There have so far been no reports of an attempt on Pezeshkian's life. 

Middle East