Some of the structures destroyed by airstrikes inside the Tehran compound of Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday had been constructed in recent months, after the 12-day war that the United States and Israel waged against Iran last year, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by The New York Times.
Images showed new roofs and structures connecting existing buildings at Beit Rahbari, or the “House of Leadership,” where the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on Saturday. Those same structures were among the ones damaged in the strike.
The highly secure compound in central Tehran, the Iranian capital, functioned as official residences and administrative headquarters. Ayatollah Khamenei received senior officials and military commanders for weekly meetings there.
The purpose of the new construction was not clear, but experts said recent roofs visible at other sensitive Iranian sites could have been aimed at protecting the sites or concealing activities.
Senior Iranian national security officials were in one building of the compound at the time of the strikes, while Ayatollah Khamenei was in another nearby building, according to people familiar with the operation.
Satellite images taken in the aftermath of the strikes show collapsed buildings at two distinct areas of the compound.
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