Despite being killed by US-Israeli strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had constructed an underground facility under central Tehran, including a blast-resistant room and escape tunnels to protect the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to architectural plans obtained by Iran International.
Plans show that the IRGC spent roughly a decade building an underground compound known as Habib Ebrahimi next to Khamenei’s official residence. The complex was named after the supreme leader’s former driver, Habib Ebrahimi, who died before construction began. It was built between 2009 and the late 2010s.
According to the plans obtained by Iranian media, the main vehicle entrance allowed cars to descend about 30 meters into the secretive facility. A 27-meter tunnel connected the bunker to multiple escape routes leading to nearby streets. Another tunnel reportedly linked the facility to a parking garage near Enghelab Square in central Tehran.
Sources who spoke on condition of anonymity with the outlet said the complex was hidden underneath what appeared to be a sports center. The secret facility included a three-level parking garage, target ranges, and two shelters located approximately 30 and 35 meters beneath the surface.
According to the documents, construction began in 2009 with Khamenei’s approval and was financed by the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters. The project was overseen by the IRGC’s engineering division, then headed by Brigadier General Ali Masjedian, while execution was carried out by the Shahid Rajaei Institute, a subsidiary of Khatam al-Anbiya.
Khamenei killed in US-Israeli strikes
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on February 28, 2026, in airstrikes carried out by Israel and the United States on his compound.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said: Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead.
This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us.
As I said last night, “Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!” Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated.
The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!
Initially, Iranian state media denied that Khamenei had been killed in strikes, but a state television presenter, visibly emotional, announced that the country would observe 40 days of mourning. Iranian state television confirmed that he was at his office in the compound when the strike occurred.
Khamenei was reportedly killed along with seven “members of the top Iranian security leadership who had gathered at several locations in Tehran” and about a dozen members of his family and close entourage in near-simultaneous strikes.
The attack caught Iranian leadership off guard, as Khamenei was reportedly above ground rather than in the underground bunker built specifically to protect him. According to people familiar with the operation, Israeli intelligence had determined that Khamenei would be at his residence in the morning for a meeting with senior officials.
Unlike his usual practice of retreating to underground bunkers at night when attacks were considered more likely, Khamenei remained above ground during daylight hours. Israeli aircraft struck the compound with a barrage of precision-guided munitions in a rapid, concentrated assault.
The operation was designed as a decapitation strike to eliminate top Iranian leadership in a single blow. Satellite imagery and video analysis later revealed substantial damage to buildings within Khamenei’s compound.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities are considering holding Khamenei’s funeral procession by air to reduce large crowds and improve security, the governor of Razavi Khorasan province said. Khamenei is reportedly scheduled to be buried in the northeastern city of Mashhad on July 9.
By ET Online Desk
