Name: America Strikes Islamic Republic of Iran: 10 Things You Need to Know
Uploaded: 2026-03-04T17:35:49.000Z
Duration: 9 min 34 s
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On February 28, 2026, the world woke up to a geopolitical earthquake.

One of the most powerful and polarizing figures in modern history, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reportedly eliminated in a massive joint U.

Two Israeli sources tell me and my colleague Tal Shalev that Israel has confirmed that the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed as a result of those Israeli strikes.

But while the headlines are focused on the architect himself, this story is about much more than just one man.

It's the culmination of decades of ideological warfare, proxy battles, and

a regional strategy that finally reached its breaking point.

Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.

And today we're breaking down 10 things you need to know about why Khamenei became a target and and what happens next.

Iran would have been much, much closer to a nuclear weapon, maybe even have a nuclear weapon by now.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, the US Stood as the world's lone superpower.

It's the former Soviet Union that is now in trouble.

Gorbachev acknowledged that he has left the country in a dangerous state.

But as the decades passed, the unipolar moment faded.

While China rose economically and Russia rebuilt its military, the a loose counterblock began to form.

On one side, you have the U.S. eU, UK and Israel.

On the other, an alignment of Russia, China and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Khamenei positioned the regime as the ideological spearhead of this resistance, making the Islamic Republic a central player in a new era of global competition.

before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran was actually America's primary ally in the Middle East.

When that alliance collapsed, the regional map was redrawn.

Traumatized by the Iran Iraq war, where Western powers backed Saddam Hussein, Tehran began investing in the axis of resistance.

But Iran does have a network of allies across the region.

Avoid direct war by building a massive network of proxies to surround adversaries and deter them through asymmetric power.

For nearly 40 years, it was a strategy that defined the region.

They can also use these positions to attack US interests or threaten Israel closer to its border.

The events of October 7, 2023, upended decades of regional rules.

In the years that followed, the response was overwhelming.

Hezbollah's leadership was systematically targeted and the Assad regime in Syria eventually collapsed.

They toppled statues, including this one of Assad, and they also liberated political prisoners.

Suddenly, the forward defense perimeter Tehran had spent decades building was gone.

For the first time in his long tenure, Khamenei looked exposed and the architecture of his deterrence was crumbling.

It must be punished and will be punished, he said.

The revolutionary survivor, Ali Khamenei wasn't always the obvious choice for leader.

Born in 1939 and a disciple of Ayatollah Khomeini, he rose to power in 1989 despite not being the most senior cleric at the time.

To make it happen, the Iranian constitution was actually amended to fit his credentials.

And as Supreme Leader, he had to build his power base.

He did so by aligning himself with Iran's hardline military force, the Revolutionary Guard.

To his supporters, he was a stabilizer and a guardian of sovereignty.

To his detractors, he was the face of an immovable theocracy.

Regardless of the perspective, his almost 37 year rule made him the longest serving contemporary autocrat in the region.

But he was becoming increasingly unpopular.

The security state expansion Under Khamenei's watch, power in Iran didn't just stay the same.

The Supreme Leader's office grew in influence while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or irgc, evolved from a paramilitary group into a military economic powerhouse.

While the IRGC oversees the Quds Force, which is responsible for foreign operations, it's also influential in national politics.

By filtering elections and constraining reform movements, the regime shifted from revolutionary populism to a system of institutional control.

It was a strategy built for durability, not flexibility.

It controls key sectors of the Iranian economy oil construction, telecommunications and financial finance, and

is believed to hold up to 50% of the country's oil wealth, proxy power and regional reach.

Khamenei's signature doctrine was leverage others to fight your battles.

By funding and arming groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen, the Islamic Republic of Iran achieved strategic depth and deniable pressure on its enemies.

However, proxy warfare is a double edged sword.

As you know, Iran's proxy armies are attacking Israel.

At the same time, the United States has moved warship to the region.

When those proxies escalate too far, the sponsor eventually inherits the consequences.

Following the fallout of October 7th, that risk finally turned into a direct reality for Tehran.

A short time ago, the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime.

Nuclear brinkmanship, nothing defined Khamenei's relationship with the west more than the regime's nuclear program.

Framed by Khamenei as a, quote, moral duty and a symbol of anti Western defiance, the program became the ultimate bargaining chip and the ultimate Flashpoint.

In early 2021, analysts estimated it could have taken Iran between nine months and two years to build a nuclear device.

As negotiations stalled and sanctions intensified, the program became a symbol of resistance to some.

But to the US And Israel, it was a destabilizing threat that effectively painted a target on the regime's back.

We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including the Fordo site, Natanz and Esfahan.

While Khamenei was defiant on the world stage, he faced growing pressure at home.

From the Green movement to the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests and recent economic unrest, the regime responded with increasing force.

What we're witnessing at the moment is different.

These protests are mainly led by women, and

they have the support across the full spectrum of Iranian society.

Executions rose and civil society constricted, creating a paradox.

The regime looked powerful and defiant externally, but was becoming increasingly brittle internally.

By 2026, the greatest threat to the Islamic Republic wasn't just an invasion.

Ayatollah Ali Khameneiyeh today accused demonstrators of damaging public property to please the US President.

By early 2026, the walls were closing in.

With Hamas and Hezbollah weakened and the IRGC facing decapitation strikes, the regime's untouchable status vanished.

As you said, we're seeing the largest buildup of firepower in this region, and

that says a lot since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

And once the perimeter collapsed, the architect of the system became its greatest liability.

The decision to target Khamenei wasn't just a symbolic gesture.

It was a structural move to dismantle the very head of the regional resistance network.

Iran's formerly supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, is dead.

The biggest question following the strike is what happens next?

Many predicted that the death of the supreme leader would cause the umma to rise in a unified revolt.

However, history suggests a different outcome.

When Qasem Soleimani was killed in 2020, there were threats and outrage, but no regional uprising.

While Soleimani was not a religious figure, Khamenei's perch as a Shia theocrat actually made him despised by Sunnis who resented the regime's meddling.