US-Israeli Airstrikes Kill Iran's Supreme Leader, Sparking Regional War

The US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28, according to multiple reports. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in the airstrikes, according to multiple reports. The US and Israel began military action against Iran on 28 February, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparking chaos across the Middle East, according to multiple reports. The joint attack launched on February 28 has killed around 1,300 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, multiple reports indicate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the Iranian supreme leader has been killed after Israel targeted Khamenei's compound, according to multiple reports. US President Donald Trump declared that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead, according to multiple reports. Netanyahu stated that the plan to destroy Israel no longer exists, and there is a high likelihood that the tyrant Khamenei does not either, according to multiple reports.

Conflicting reports surround Khamenei's status and location during the attack. Iranian state media denied reports that Khamenei is dead and said he is safe and sound, according to multiple reports. Channel 12 in Israel, citing a source, claimed Iran's supreme leader is 'almost certainly dead', according to multiple reports. An Iranian official told Reuters that Khamenei was not in Tehran and had been transferred to a 'secure location', according to multiple reports. However, official reports from Tehran indicate Khamenei was targeted while inside his office complex in Tehran during coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes, according to multiple reports. Khamenei's death was confirmed by the Iranian government on 1 March, according to multiple reports.

The scale of the joint military operation was substantial, targeting leadership and infrastructure. The US and Israel launched a huge strike on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's residence in Tehran, multiple reports indicate. US and Israeli strikes have killed several of Tehran’s most senior figures and dealt heavy blows to the country’s weapons and energy infrastructure, according to multiple reports. Israeli strikes on Tehran killed several senior Iranian officials, including IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour, Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh, adviser Ali Shamkhani, and chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, an IDF spokesperson said, according to multiple reports. Strikes on Iran killed four senior Iranian intelligence commanders: Javad Pourhossein, Mohammad-Reza Bajestani, Ali Kheirandish, and Saeed Ehya Hamidi, according to Iran International, as reported by multiple sources. At least three members of Iran's IRGC-linked Basij paramilitary forces were killed in the Israeli-US attacks, Reuters reported, according to multiple sources. A member of the Tehran City Council said that Khamenei's son-in-law and daughter-in-law were both killed in strikes, according to multiple reports. US officials described the operation as a 'large-scale strategic operation' aimed at crippling Iran’s military command structure and missile capabilities, according to multiple reports.

Iran responded with significant retaliatory strikes. Iran retaliated with strikes on Israel and other targets in the region, according to multiple reports. Tehran has responded with attacks on Israel as well as energy facilities in neighbouring Gulf Arab states, multiple reports indicate. Iran and its ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, have responded with strikes on Israel and other countries in the Middle East, according to multiple reports. Iran responded by firing missiles at Israel and targeting US bases in Gulf countries, research from four sources indicates. Iranian missiles struck the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, killing at least nine people, Israel's ambulance service reported, according to multiple reports.

Casualty figures and humanitarian impact vary widely. Iran’s Red Crescent reports that more than 200 people have been killed nationwide in the strikes, according to multiple reports. Iranian officials say at least 108 people were killed when US and Israeli missiles struck a girls’ school, according to multiple reports. A blast struck Tehran while Iranians marched for an Al Quds rally, according to multiple reports. Following reports about Khamenei's death, some residents in Tehran were rejoicing, blowing whistles and letting out ululations, witnesses told the Associated Press, according to multiple reports. Videos on social media appear to show crowds celebrating Khamenei's death in parts of Tehran and other cities, research from four sources indicates. State television has broadcast images of mourning gatherings, with supporters calling Khamenei's death a 'martyrdom', according to multiple reports.

International reactions and diplomatic fallout have been swift. UN Secretary General António Guterres said he is 'not in a position to confirm' reports that Khamenei has been killed, according to multiple reports. Germany, France and the UK have condemned Iranian counterattacks in the region, research from four sources indicates. Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council have accused Iran of violating their sovereignty, according to research from four sources. US President Donald Trump ignored reporters' questions on Iran, while Vice President JD Vance has shown no public support of the US's action against Iran, research from four sources indicates. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to brief House and Senate leaders on Iran on Tuesday, research from four sources indicates.

Military escalation continues with potential ground invasion preparations. Thousands of US sailors and marines have been moved to the Middle East, sparking concerns of a ground invasion, multiple reports indicate. US officials told the Washington Post that the Pentagon is preparing for ground operations that are awaiting presidential approval, according to multiple reports. A US official told Reuters American strikes in Iran were 'underway' and being carried out by air and sea, according to multiple reports. The White House described the strike as a 'joint defensive action' conducted in coordination with Israel, according to multiple reports.

The conflict has a significant nuclear dimension. The International Atomic Energy Agency believes Iran has 440 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60% purity that is being hidden underground, according to multiple reports. Intelligence agencies and monitors say there is no evidence to suggest Tehran is using the uranium to build a weapon, according to multiple reports. Iran is also said to have nearly 200kg of 20 per cent fissile material, which can be easily converted to 90 per cent weapons-grade, according to multiple reports. Experts say that uranium levels that high are not required for either nuclear reactors or medical reasons and could likely be for weapons, according to multiple reports. In June 2025, the US and Israel said they had 'obliterated' Iran’s nuclear facilities in a series of strikes during the 12-day war, according to multiple reports. IAEA director General Rafael Grossi has previously said he believes the uranium is at two of the three sites that were attacked last year, including an underground tunnel at a nuclear complex in Isfahan and a cache at Natanz, according to multiple reports. President Trump stated that he does not care about Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, according to multiple reports.

Political divisions have emerged within the US administration over the conflict. One of Donald Trump's closest advisers has broken with the President over his war with Iran, warning the conflict risks spiraling into nuclear catastrophe, multiple reports indicate. According to Daily Mail - News, David Sacks, Trump's czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, described Israel weighing whether to deploy a nuclear weapon against the Islamic regime, according to multiple reports. Sacks noted the US had largely neutralized the Islamic regime's military capabilities, according to multiple reports. Sacks is the most senior figure in Trump's White House to publicly break with the President over the conflict, multiple reports indicate. Vance privately warned against the Iran war, urging Trump that if action were taken he should 'go big and go fast,' according to reports, as cited by multiple sources. Trump stated that Vance had been 'less enthusiastic' about the war, according to multiple reports.

The war has shaken global markets and raised oil prices, according to multiple reports. Since the war broke out, oil prices have increased, mainly because Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz where a fifth of the world's oil passes, multiple reports indicate. Donald Trump's statement that the war may soon be over has caused oil prices to fall, according to multiple reports. Global oil prices have risen after ships were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, research from four sources indicates. Airline share prices in Asia Pacific are sinking due to Iranian strikes hitting airports, research from four sources indicates. Trump threatened to bomb the country into the 'Stone Age' if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz, according to multiple reports.

Regional security developments include direct Hezbollah involvement. Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon exchanged fire, with the IDF telling residents of more than 50 villages in Lebanon to evacuate, research from four sources indicates. The IDF struck an advanced SA-65 aerial defense system in the Kermanshah area in western Iran, according to multiple reports. Iranian media reported strikes targeting the IRGC's intelligence headquarters and explosions in central Tehran, according to multiple reports.

Leadership transition in Iran is underway with potential successors emerging. The son of Iran's exiled shah, Reza Pahlavi, put himself forward as a possible candidate for leading Iran after Khamenei's death, research from four sources indicates. Iran's top security official Ali Larijani announced that the transition process to a new leader will begin as early as Sunday, according to multiple reports. Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu are urging Iranians to overthrow the regime, according to a wire report, as cited by multiple sources. Trump called Khamenei 'one of the most evil people in History' and urged Iranians to 'take back your Country', according to multiple reports.

Civil defense measures have been implemented. Iran's Security Council instructed residents of Tehran and other major cities to stay in safe locations, according to multiple reports.

The broader strategic context involves a prolonged conflict. The US-Israel war with Iran has been going on for three weeks, multiple reports indicate. Trump had maintained as recently as Wednesday that the key aims of the conflict were to trigger the collapse of the Iranian regime and ensure it had no nuclear capabilities, according to multiple reports. Iran reports that the country is ready for a long war with the USA, according to multiple reports. Trump declared the war is 'won' and said it is 'basically over,' but also stated the war will last between four and five weeks and that the US is 'far ahead' of its estimated timeframe, according to multiple reports. He warned that Iran must do what the US demands or 'they’re not going to have a country,' according to multiple reports. According to Aftonbladet, Kamal Kharazi, a foreign policy advisor at the Iranian regime's office, described no longer seeing any room for diplomacy, accusing Trump of misleading others and not keeping his promises, according to multiple reports.

Assessments of military damage vary. The US military says Iran dealt 'minimal damage' to its installations, with no reports of American casualties, according to multiple reports. According to www.bbc.com, aviation analyst Shukor Yusof described Iran adopting a 'scorched earth policy' by attacking airports in the Gulf, according to multiple reports.

Key unknowns remain, including the precise casualty numbers from the airstrikes and retaliatory attacks, which vary widely between sources. The likelihood of a ground invasion by US forces is unclear despite reported preparations, and the Iranian government's management of the leadership transition if Khamenei is dead, including potential successors, is still developing.