Operation Epic Fury: US and Israel Kill Iran's Supreme Leader

US and Israel Launch Massive Strike on Iran, Killing Supreme Leader Khamenei

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead. The United States and Israel confirmed Saturday, February 28, 2026, that a coordinated air campaign dubbed "Operation Epic Fury" had killed Iran's most powerful figure, a man who had ruled the Islamic Republic since 1989 and shaped decades of confrontation with the West. The strike killed Khamenei and other senior officials after the CIA tracked his location for several months, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to CBS News.

The Pentagon announced the operation shortly after midnight Tehran time. Israel's air force said it dropped more than 1,200 munitions across 24 of Iran's 31 provinces. US warplanes struck ministries in southern Tehran and targeted key military command centers. Iranian state television confirmed Khamenei's death early Sunday morning as stunned crowds gathered in mourning across central Tehran.

President Donald Trump confirmed the killing in a post on Truth Social, declaring that "an Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles would be a dire threat to every American." The White House has not specified what legal authority authorized the operation, and senior Democrats immediately called the strike an illegal act of war.

Iran Declares 40 Days of National Mourning

The Iranian government announced 40 days of national mourning within hours of Khamenei's death. Streets in Tehran, Isfahan, and Mashhad fell eerily quiet as state media broadcast black-bordered tributes. Flowers piled at hastily erected memorials. Thousands gathered at Vali-e-Asr Square in central Tehran, weeping and chanting slogans against the United States.

Khamenei, 86, had served as the Islamic Republic's second supreme leader since June 1989, succeeding the revolution's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. His death leaves a constitutional void at the top of Iran's theocratic power structure. The Assembly of Experts — an 88-member clerical body — holds the authority to appoint a new supreme leader, but no successor has been publicly named.

According to Karim Sadjadpour, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "There's probably a lot of jockeying inside Iran right now. They have a very consultative, deliberative process to replace the supreme leader, and that process has never before happened under conditions of active war."

Scale of Destruction Draws International Alarm

Local reports from inside Iran described widespread destruction in residential neighborhoods near military sites. An all-girls school in Tehran was reportedly struck in the initial bombing wave, with dozens of students, parents, and staff members killed, according to reports circulated by local journalists and verified in part by Al Jazeera. The Pentagon has not commented on civilian casualties.

Several countries condemned the strikes or called for immediate restraint. Russia and China issued joint statements demanding a UN Security Council emergency session. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged "all parties to step back from the brink" and called for the immediate protection of civilians. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar — all hosts to US military bases — issued careful diplomatic statements urging de-escalation without explicitly criticizing Washington.

The operation marks a dramatic escalation beyond the limited Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, which drew a contained Iranian response. This time, the scope of both the US-Israeli offensive and Iran's retaliation is orders of magnitude larger — and how Iran's fractured leadership proceeds without Khamenei may determine whether this war expands or contracts in the days ahead.