Before the missiles ever lit up the Tehran sky, the hunt was already over. For months, U.S. intelligence officials were quietly tracking the movements of Iran’s most powerful men, piecing together a detailed picture of where and when they would gather. Analysts monitored patterns, locations, and leadership schedules — waiting for a rare window when the regime’s top figures would be in one place at the same time. That window came early Saturday morning in Tehran, when senior political and military leaders assembled inside a heavily guarded compound housing the offices of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the presidency, and the Supreme National Security Council. According to The New York Times, citing people familiar with the operation and officials briefed on the intelligence, the CIA had tracked Khamenei for months and passed what’s described as “high fidelity” intelligence on his location to Israel ahead of the strike. U.S. and Israeli officials reportedly adjusted the timing of the operation after learning that multiple senior leaders would be gathered together. Israel had assessed that those expected at the compound included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Military Council head Admiral Ali Shamkhani, IRGC Aerospace Force commander Majid Mousavi, and Deputy Intelligence Minister Mohammad Shirazi, among others. Around 8 a.m. Tehran time, Israeli fighter jets reportedly took off, armed with long-range precision munitions. Roughly two hours later, missiles struck multiple locations in Tehran, including the leadership compound. Senior national security officials were gathered in one building, while Khamenei was in another nearby structure, the Times reported. An Israeli defense official claimed that the strike was “carried out simultaneously at several locations in Tehran,” adding that Israel achieved “tactical surprise” despite Iranian preparations for war. Iran’s state news agency IRNA also confirmed Sunday the deaths of several senior military figures Israel said it targeted, including Shamkhani, Pakpour, and Nasirzadeh. Hours after Khamenei’s death was confirmed and Iran’s leadership reeled from the blow, Tehran unleashed a volley of retaliatory missiles and rockets toward Israel — fulfilling vows from Iranian officials to launch the “fiercest offensive in history” in response to what they called an unprovoked attack and the killing of their supreme leader. The strikes triggered sustained air-raid sirens across Israeli cities, forcing residents into shelters as air defenses worked overtime. As of the latest reports, Israeli rescue services and military officials have said that at least ten people have been killed on Israeli soil from Iran’s retaliation — including civilians in Beit Shemesh and Tel Aviv — and dozens more wounded across central and southern regions as a result of incoming missiles and intercept debris. Last June, as plans were being discussed to potentially strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, President Donald Trump said the United States knew where Khamenei was hiding and could have killed him. At the time, Trump referred to the Iranian regime as “evil,” underscoring how he viewed the leadership in Tehran. Months of surveillance and intelligence coordination converged in a strike that reshaped Iran’s power structure in a matter of minutes — and ignited one of the most volatile escalations in Middle East history.

Following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Sky News anchor Rita Panahi—who fled the Islamic Revolution as a child—delivered a blistering and justified condemnation of the tyrant, declaring: “You son of a b*tch, shame on you, burn in hell!” Sky News Australia anchor, Rita Panahi, addressed Iran's late leader, Ali Khamenei, in Persian: "You son of a b*tch, shame on you, burn in hell!" It is rightly said that after death a person is known by his deeds.#Khamenei#Iran pic.twitter.com/wT6XBjtrlb — Rijuta (@ImRijuta) March 1, 2026   Panahi, a fierce advocate for the liberation of the Iranian people, went as far as to suggest that if President Trump successfully ends the 47-year “Islamist tyranny,” Tehran should be renamed in his honor. If Trump liberates Iran after 47 years of Islamist tyranny we should rename Tehran in his honour. https://t.co/4wEc0gzYWp — Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) February 28, 2026 However, the moment of potential liberation for oppressed Iranians was met with predictable hand-wringing from the far-Left. Actress Jane Fonda took to social media to attack the Trump-led strike, labeling it “dangerous and insane” and claiming to be deeply concerned that the conflict would “risk the lives of many, including U.S. servicepeople.” Panahi was quick to expose Fonda’s posturing, firing back: “This b*tch. Again. If the liberation of genuinely oppressed women fills you with dread then you may be a witch.” This bitch. Again. If the liberation of genuinely oppressed women feels you with dread then you may be a witch. https://t.co/ZnRct3rtr9 — Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) March 1, 2026 Panahi’s outrage highlights the staggering hypocrisy of Fonda’s sudden concern for American troops. Fonda’s history reveals a woman who did not merely oppose a war, but actively collaborated with an enemy that was killing and torturing American servicemen. In 1972, Fonda traveled to Hanoi, famously posing on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun used to shoot down American pilots. She didn’t stop at photo ops; she recorded ten propaganda broadcasts over Radio Hanoi to demoralize U.S. troops, the Seattle Times reported. At the “Hanoi Hilton,” these broadcasts were played on a loop to torture the psychological state of American POWs. The depth of Fonda’s betrayal was most evident in her treatment of those prisoners. When POWs were beaten and tortured into appearing at a press conference with her, she reportedly chose not to notice their robotic delivery or broken limbs, the Seattle Times stated. Upon their return to the U.S., she branded these broken men “hypocrites and liars,” infamously claiming, “I think that one of the only ways that we are going to redeem ourselves as a country for what we have done there is not to hail the POWs as heroes, because they are hypocrites and liars. History will judge them severely.” She told an audience of 3,000 people at UCLA, “We should recognize that there is considerable room for doubting these charges of torture, at the very least. We should remain skeptical. We have no reason to believe that U.S. Air Force officers tell the truth. They are professional killers…” For Fonda to now cloak her anti-Trump rhetoric in “concern” for the safety of the U.S. military is a masterclass in historical revisionism. As Panahi’s response suggests, Fonda’s track record shows she is far more comfortable siding with despotic regimes than standing with the American soldiers she once slandered or the Iranian women currently yearning for freedom.

After hard-Left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a frequent critic of President Trump and no friend of the state of Israel — publicly deplored the Trump-led attack on the despotic, murderous Iranian regime, leading Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad tore him apart on national television. “Today’s military strikes on Iran – carried out by the United States and Israel – mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression,” Mamdani stated venomously. “Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace.” “Oh, my God. I can’t believe it. I cannot believe it,” Alinejad — whom the Iranian regime targeted three times for assassination — fired back. “I live in New York, Mr. Mamdani. You are more than welcome to come to one of my safe houses. You’re more than welcome to come and see my would-be assassin in the federal court. You didn’t even dare to come and face them.” “Where were you when they sent killers here in New York City?” she continued, then made reference to a story Mamdani told last October about his “aunt” whom he said was too afraid to wear her hijab on the subways after 9/11. Later it was shown the “aunt” was really his father’s cousin. “You were crying for your aunt because she stopped using subway for simply an illusion statement you made saying that she didn’t feel safe because of wearing hijab,” Alinejad said. “Really? I stopped using subway because of the would-be assassins being sent to beautiful New York City by the Islamic Republic.” “I know maybe you and many other people, they hate President Trump,” she continued. “But believe me, this is not the right time to shift your hatred and your anger from President Trump to the people of Iran, innocent people. We are better allies to you, America, compared to these backward mullahs.” "Mr. Mamdani, you are more than welcome to come to one of my safe houses." Masih Alinejad, who was targeted for assassination by the Iranian regime at her Brooklyn home, responded to a statement released by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani that today's military strikes on Iran… pic.twitter.com/f3atZlqGgp — CBS News (@CBSNews) February 28, 2026 Alinejad expressed her overwhelming gratitude to President Trump and the nation he leads, saying: I love you. I love America. I love everything about this country. I grew up in a country where I was brainwashed to say “Death to America.” The same country — how ironic — the same country that I wished death saved my life three times and now helps my people in Iran. They are celebrating. They are celebrating out of joy. This morning, I woke up, I’m like, for the first time, I wake up, I woke up, always, always, every morning we wake up when we hear “Allahu Akbar,” one person gets killed. killed, executed in Iran. But this morning was the morning of millions of Iranians seeing justice. Ali Khamenei is dead, is gone. This is called justice. And this is what should have been done years ago by the United States of America. Thank you, President Trump, for acting. Actually taking decisive action. This is how a true leadership looks like. Iranian Activist CELEBRATES Khamenei's Death Alinejad Masih: "I grew up in a country where I was brainwashed to say death to America. How ironic, the same country that I wished death, saved my life three times and now helps my people in Iran…. Thank you president Trump!" pic.twitter.com/JFL6fIXWIT — Mr Producer (@RichSementa) March 1, 2026 She posted another video showing her overwhelming joy at the deliverance of her people, celebrating, “Every morning, I wake up, reading that my people are being killed by Ali Khamenei, but this is the first morning in my life that … I get the good news I want to run. I want to run. I want to run. I want to run. I want to just run. I want to just run and shout. And shout. And shout. Out of joy. Out of joy. Out of joy. Out of joy.” “Ali Khamenei is dead!” she cried out in the street in New York City. “Freedom! Freedom! I love America. I love Iran! I love America! I want to tell everyone. Thank you, thank you, America. I need to tell everyone!” Finally, you’re dead finally, you’re gone @khamenei_ir

President Trump is the most courageous commander-in-chief in modern American history. There is no question about it. What he just did is the bravest move by a president of the United States of my lifetime, bar none. The president of the United States made the unbelievably brave decision — and it was a brave decision — to move to end the chief threat against America and her allies in the Middle East — the core threat, the Iranian regime, that has been percolating, militating, killing Americans and American allies since 1979. That is the first thing to recognize about what President Trump did. President Trump is doing so because he understands what it means for America to get rid of long-standing enemies. He understands that the use of force is a necessary component when it comes to America’s geopolitical position in the world. He is doing so because he understands better than any American president of my lifetime that America does not need to get bogged down in a long, prolonged war with hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground. America needs to flex her power when necessary and do the thing that is right when necessary in order to protect her core interests. One of the things you’re hearing tonight from critics of the president is that there is no direct attack on the United States, therefore, no sort of military action ought to have been undertaken with regard to Iran.  First of all, historically speaking, that’s not true. The Iranian government has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Americans over the course of time, ranging from the 1983 barracks bombing in Lebanon via its proxy Hezbollah, to the death of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq during the Iraq War. The Iranian regime has also been responsible for the murder of people abroad, ranging from Europe to South America to, obviously, the Middle East, where it has activated its proxies against American allies, not just Israel, but also including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries in the region. The Iranian government is the leading sponsor of terrorism on planet Earth. It has been for decades. The president decided to end that threat. The idea that America has never suffered a direct attack or has not recently suffered a direct attack from Iran is not true. But people say, “It wasn’t a direct attack right now. Iran didn’t attack a tower in New York.” That’s true. But that is not the only reason why you take out a regime, why you go after the leadership. What the United States is doing right now is recognizing that there was a unique opportunity presented by the situation on the ground in Iran for a change of direction in Iran, which will totally upend the politics of the Middle East, and of the world, in a tremendous way. Let’s start with geopolitics. What’s the geopolitical reason for the United States to be involved? Because geopolitics do affect Americans. America takes action abroad in order to affect its geopolitical position. This, for example, is why, if China were to threaten Taiwan, that would affect Americans because we get semiconductors from Taiwan. Also, if China continues to expand its footprint, then that means America’s economic and military interests are threatened. The current regime in Iran acts as a linkage between China and Russia. It provides enormous amounts of oil to the Chinese machine, and it gives the Russian war machine its drones. And, of course, it acts as a check and balance against the United States in the Middle East. That is what Iran has historically done. In order to understand what President Trump is doing geopolitically, you have to understand the consequences if he didn’t do it. If President Trump had left the Iranian regime in place after it murdered 32,000 of its own citizens in violation of his own red line; if the Iranian regime continued to rebuild all of its military and nuclear facilities, which is what it was doing — if it continued to do that and President Trump did nothing — the geopolitical consequences for the United States would have been disastrous. Why? Because when China looks at that, perhaps they make their move on Taiwan. When Russia looks at that, then they really up the ante in Ukraine. President Trump is the president who will not allow, under any circumstances, the threat of force to go away. He understands better than anyone that the credible threat of American military force is the thing that keeps America in the driver’s seat globally. That is what he was doing. He is pushing China off the ball with regard to Taiwan. He is pushing Russia off the ball with regard to Ukraine. And yes, of course, he is getting rid of the cancerous regime in Tehran, which has spread its terror tentacles all over the world, predominantly in the Middle East, but also in South America and in Europe, where it has pursued terrorist attacks. WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show | Special Edition | “Trump Strikes Iran” on DailyWire+ Changing out the top of the regime in Iran will have massive repercussions. There are a lot of people who think that in order for the United States to justify any military action, a threat must either be immediately imminent — meaning like they’re going to blow up a building in New York right now — or that there must have been a direct attack. Historically, blown opportunities lead to significantly worse after-effects. Bill Clinton failing to kill Osama bin Laden in the late 1990s when we had him in the crosshairs led to the attack on the USS Cole and the attacks on 9/11. The unwillingness of the West to topple the Bolshevik regime in its earliest iterations in Russia — failing to sufficiently support the Whites against the Reds in Russia — led to a full century of Soviet sponsorship of mass murder. The unwillingness of the United States to help Chiang Kai-Shek fight back against the Communists in China led to the rise of the Chinese Communist Party — responsible for not only the deaths of tens of millions of its own citizens, but is now the main geopolitical threat facing America today. In other words, when you have an opportunity to effectuate serious change at relatively low cost, you do it. The United States has complete air superiority. Why? Because after the 12-Day-War last year, in which Israel essentially defenestrated the air defense systems in Iran, the United States essentially had clear airways to go and take out huge numbers of Iranian regime targets. The opportunity was there. Not only that, but the opportunity became even greater because the Iranian people were tired of living under this regime. The Iranian rial (IRR) right now is so dirt cheap, it would take 1 million Iranian rials to amount to 0.75 cents in the United States. And so, the Iranian people were tired of it, which is why they rose up in December of last year and started mass protesting in the streets. So the opportunity is for the people to take charge of their future with the help of the United States from above. And that’s what President Trump is saying: We’re not going to put hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground and just effectuate a regime change. We are going to take out the people who are most threatening.  Now, go take control of your own country.

Covering global conflict is my job as The Daily Wire’s foreign affairs correspondent. But from Friday at sundown until Saturday night — roughly 25 hours each week — I step away completely. I’m an Orthodox Jew, and each week on Shabbat, I don’t use any electricity, including my phone. At sundown tonight, I logged on to find a very different reality in the Middle East than I left. If you’ve been following The Daily Wire’s coverage all day, you know that, early this morning, the United States and Israel struck Iran. But if you need a refresher, here are the 7 updates that got me up to speed. 1. Operation Epic Fury Hits Hard Precision munitions rained down from land, air, and sea in the opening hours, hitting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control centers, Iranian air defenses, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields. According to U.S. Central Command, the strikes began at 1:15 a.m. ET, and CENTCOM called Operation Epic Fury the largest regional concentration of American military firepower in a generation.   2. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei Is Dead Precision U.S. and Israeli strikes hit the Supreme Leader’s compound in the opening hours of the operation, killing Iran’s top ruler. He was 86, had led the country since 1989, and was only the second person to hold the post of supreme leader since the 1979 Iranian Revolution that brought a radical clerical regime to power. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Donald Trump were shown images of Khamenei’s body after it was recovered. President Trump called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history” and said his death delivered justice for the people of Iran, for all great Americans, and for those around the world who suffered under him and his “gang of bloodthirsty thugs.” Khamenei had ruled tyrannically for decades, overseeing widespread oppression, including the violent crackdown on protesters that left an estimated 32,000 dead in January. Trump added that the Supreme Leader could not evade the strike — despite any efforts to hide, highly sophisticated tracking systems, coordinated between the U.S. and Israel, made it impossible for him to escape.   3. Iranians Encouraged To Take Fate Into Their Own Hands After Khamenei was killed, President Trump called this “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,” a moment that some Iranians appear to be marking with hope. Videos circulating on social media show cheers across Iran Saturday night following reports of the Supreme Leader’s death, including in Tehran, and videos emerging from London show members of the Iranian diaspora joining in the celebrations. Trump added that many members of the IRGC, military, and other security forces reportedly no longer want to fight and are seeking immunity. He expressed hope that the IRGC and police could peacefully merge with Iranian patriots, working together to restore the country to what he described as its deserved greatness.   4. Iran’s Retaliatory Strikes Across the Middle East In retaliation following Khamenei’s death, Iran has launched missile and drone attacks across the region: Israel: Multiple missile impacts, including in Tel Aviv. Qatar: Missiles targeted Al Udeid Air Base. United Arab Emirates (UAE): Al Dhafra Air Base struck; one person killed in Abu Dhabi. Bahrain: U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters and residential buildings targeted. Kuwait: Kuwait International Airport and Ali Al Salem Air Base were attacked. All missiles were intercepted, though a drone hit Kuwait International Airport, causing minor injuries to employees. Jordan: Muwaffaq Al-Salti Air Base targeted. Iraq: U.S. Consulate in Erbil and Erbil Airport targeted by drones, which were shot down. Saudi Arabia: Riyadh was targeted, but attacks were repelled. Oman: Spared from attacks; the country had mediated nuclear negotiations as recently as Thursday. 5. The U.S. and Israel Are Operating in Full Coordination The strikes on Iran were part of a coordinated military campaign between the United States and Israel. Strategic analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) note that the United States designated its part of the operation “Operation Epic Fury,” while Israel called its portion “Operation Lion’s Roar,” reflecting a division of labor that plays to each side’s strengths: Israel focusing on regime leadership and intelligence targets, and the United States using its superior firepower to strike missile silos and major military sites. The level of coordination was clear in advance. In the days leading up to the strikes, American refueling tankers were stationed at Ben Gurion Airport, while combat fighter jets were on the runway in Israel for offensive operations for the first time.   6. Top Iranian Officials Reportedly Killed In addition to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Israel claims several high-ranking Iranian figures were killed in the strikes, including: Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iran’s defense minister Ali Shamkhani, head of the Iranian Security Council Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Saleh Asadi, intelligence official Hossein Jabal Amelian and Reza Mozaffari-Nia, research officials Mohammed Shirazi, longtime defense liaison   7. Trump Says Bombing Will Continue President Trump warned that the air campaign in Iran isn’t ending anytime soon, saying heavy and precise strikes will keep going “throughout the week or as long as necessary” to achieve what he described as peace across the Middle East and beyond. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth echoed that stance, saying the United States will not tolerate missiles aimed at Americans and vowing that the Iranian navy “will be destroyed.”