Details have emerged regarding Yehia Hosseini Panjaki, revealed yesterday to have been the head of the 'Khanzala' hacker group. Panjaki, a deputy chief of internal security at Iran's intelligence ministry who was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2024, was killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran during the early days of Operation 'Roaring Lion', according to Israeli media.
New details have emerged regarding Yehia Hosseini Panjaki, the commander of the Iranian cyber group Khanzala, who was killed during the early days of Operation Roaring Lion. As The Zioneer reported earlier today (Thu 08:48 Jerusalem), Panjaki was the group's leader; later reports (Thu 09:05) confirmed his role as a senior Iranian intelligence official. The latest information identifies Panjaki as the deputy head of the internal security department at Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, according to Israeli media reports citing sources linked to Iranian security bodies. He was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2024 for human rights abuses, and the US later issued a wanted notice with a reward for information leading to him.
The thread began on Wed Jun 24, 23:05 Jerusalem, when various unverified sources reported that the commander of an Iranian hacker group—initially named 'Bandarla'—had been killed. By version 2 of that same publication, the commander was identified as Yehia Hosseini Panjaki, and a source affiliated with IRGC intelligence confirmed his role as leader of the Khanzala group. Version 3, published the same timestamp, added that this source confirmed Panjaki led the group which had exfiltrated data from cellphones of senior Israeli officials, including former PM Naftali Bennett, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and Shin Bet official Tzachi Braverman.
As The Zioneer reported on Thu 09:05 Jerusalem, the IRGC-affiliated source's confirmation marked the first public acknowledgment of Panjaki's leadership of the group, which has been linked to cyber attacks and leaks against Israeli targets. Separately, as a background item from Jun 11, Khanzala has claimed to disrupt US military operations electronically, though those claims were unverified.
What remains unclear: no official Israeli or Iranian confirmation of Panjaki's death has been issued. The extent of his operational role within Iran's intelligence ministry alongside his cyber activities is still emerging from source reports. The specific timeline of his killing within Operation Roaring Lion has not been precisely established.
4 developments
- StrongIranian hacker group Khanzala claims it disrupted US military strike waves electronically
- StrongIsraeli citizen charged with security tasks for Iranian intelligence
- DevelopingIran International: contact cut with Supreme Leader Khamenei since last night, Tehran's missile attack on Israel reportedly launched without his coordination
- DevelopingIran accuses Mossad of assassinating its 'AI father'
Source and signal
- Internal intake