5AM: The IDF announced the elimination of Abdolrahim Mousavi, the Iranian Chief of Staff of the armed forces. Additionally, the IDF reports the elimination of 7 members of the top Iranian security leadership in Tehran and 40 senior commanders.

12:20PM: President Trump: “Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before. THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

11:10PM: Iran says a temporary three‑member leadership council, made up of the president, the head of the judiciary and a Guardian Council jurist, will assume the duties of the supreme leader following Khamenei’s death until a new leader is chosen, the Jerusalem Post reported.

10:50PM:

Israel’s Channel 12: Ahmad Vahidi Named New Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

10:20PM:

The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Central Command and other military units continued to use Anthropic’s language model, Claude AI, in the planning and execution of strikes against Iran and in defending allied forces in the Middle East, even though President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth on Friday had announced a “blacklist” barring the military from using Anthropic products.

10:08PM:

Iran’s Nour News agency has confirmed the deaths of Ali Shamkhani and IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour.

10:00PM:

Australian PM Anthony Albanese: “Australia stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against what is an oppressive regime. Ayatollah Khamenei was responsible for the regime’s ballistic missile and nuclear program, support for armed proxies and its brutal acts of violence and intimidation against its own people. This claimed countless lives in Iran but also internationally.

“He was responsible for orchestrating attacks on Australian soil. His passing will not be mourned. While we aren’t directly active in the current military strikes, we have been clear and acted on our utter rejection of the brutal Iranian regime. Last year, we expelled Iran’s ambassador. That is the first time an ambassador has been expelled from Australia since the Second World War, and that underlines how seriously we took the gravity of Iran orchestrating an attack on our soil, we suspended operations at our embassy in Tehran, and we listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a state sponsor of terrorism.”

—

US President Donald Trump declared Saturday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in a massive, coordinated American and Israeli strike campaign against the Islamic Republic, as the two allies launched what Washington has named “Operation Epic Fury” — a sweeping military offensive involving nearly 900 strikes in its first 12 hours alone. Israel has called its campaign “Roaring Lion,” after last year’s Operation Rising Lion, which targeted Iranian nuclear facilities.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late Saturday. Iran had not confirmed the death as of press time, and a post appeared on Khamenei’s official X account purporting to show he was still alive. Nevertheless, Israeli officials backed the American president’s claim, stating that the 85-year-old supreme leader was killed along with several of his most senior lieutenants.

Iran’s state media reported that Khamenei’s daughter and grandchild were killed in the strikes. The National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, whom Iranian and U.S. sources said had been meeting with Khamenei at a secure location just before the strikes commenced, survived and posted a defiant statement on X, vowing that “the brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson” to the attackers.

Later Saturday night, Iranian state television acknowledged Khameni’s death and declared a 40-day mourning period.

The Strike: Timed to Kill the Leadership

According to two U.S. sources and a U.S. official familiar with the matter, Israel and the United States timed their attack to coincide with a leadership meeting Khamenei was conducting with top aides. Israeli officials stated that among those killed alongside Khamenei were Ali Shamkhani, the powerful former National Security Council secretary, and Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Trump acknowledged Israel’s key operational role while asserting that the United States played a central part in the targeting. “Khamenei was unable to avoid our intelligence and highly sophisticated tracking systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders who have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump wrote.

A senior U.S. official told reporters that President Trump authorized the operation after receiving intelligence indicating Iran was preparing to deploy its ballistic missiles either preemptively or simultaneously with any American military action. “The president decided he was not going to sit back and allow American forces in the region to absorb attacks from conventional missiles,” the official said. “We had analysis that basically told us that if we sat back and waited to get hit first, the amount of casualties and damage would be substantially higher than if we acted in a preemptive, defensive way.”

According to the Washington Post, President Donald Trump moved forward with strikes on Iran after sustained pressure from Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The report indicates that the Prince repeatedly urged Trump in private phone calls over the past month to launch a U.S. attack, even as he publicly backed a diplomatic path.

900 Strikes in 12 Hours; Iran Fires 300 Missiles

Fox News, citing an unnamed U.S. official, reported that the American military carried out nearly 900 strikes during the first 12 hours of Operation Epic Fury. The strikes were launched from land, air, and sea, and included drone attacks, while simultaneously defending against hundreds of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles. Iran fired approximately 300 missiles in those first 12 hours, beginning at around 9:30 a.m. local time in Tehran.

The official noted that Iran possesses approximately 2,000 long-range missiles and an additional 2,000 shorter-range missiles in its arsenal — a stockpile that was reportedly replenished following last summer’s U.S. and Israeli strikes. Despite this, the official claimed that Iranian counterstrikes had targeted “empty warehouses” near the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and had not impacted U.S. military objectives.

The stated goal of Operation Epic Fury, according to the U.S. official, is to strip Iran of its “capability to attack its neighbors: no drones, no missiles, no navy.” The official estimated the operation would last “a couple of weeks,” though President Trump could choose to conclude it sooner. Iranian air defense systems remain partially intact, limiting the freedom of U.S. and Israeli aircraft to operate over Iranian airspace.

Diplomatic Breakdown: Talks Failed, Iran Refused Missile Negotiations

A senior U.S. official sought to establish a diplomatic context for the military action, asserting that Washington had exhausted all avenues for a negotiated settlement. The official recounted that the United States offered Iran “free nuclear fuel forever” in exchange for halting its uranium enrichment program — a proposal Tehran rejected. “They basically said that didn’t work for them,” the official said, accusing Iran of seeking to “buy time” rather than negotiate sincerely.

Particularly troubling to the administration, the official said, was Iran’s categorical refusal in the last three rounds of negotiations to discuss its ballistic missile program. “They won’t talk about it with us. They won’t talk about it with our regional partners. They will not talk about those missiles at all. And for us, that was also an unacceptable situation to be in,” the official said. “So the president, frankly, had no choice.”

The official characterized the nuclear weapons ambition as a longer-term threat and Iran’s existing missile arsenal — capable of striking U.S. bases throughout the region — as a more immediate and “intolerable risk.” Iran, the official said, had been “in the throes of rebuilding everything that had been destroyed” in the U.S.-Israeli strikes of June 2025.

Iranian Retaliation: Tel Aviv Struck, Dubai Airport Hit

Iran responded to the offensive with a broad retaliatory missile campaign of its own. In Tel Aviv, an Iranian ballistic missile strike left a woman in her 40s critically wounded; she subsequently died from her injuries, first responders confirmed. The Magen David Adom emergency service reported an additional 20 casualties, including a man in his 40s in serious condition, a man in his 30s in moderate condition, a woman in her 90s in moderate condition, and 17 others lightly hurt.

In a separate missile barrage later in the day targeting Israel, no injuries were initially reported, though the Fire and Rescue Service dispatched units to multiple sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank where fires broke out after missile shrapnel landed.

Dubai was also struck in Iran’s retaliatory barrage. Emirati authorities confirmed that Dubai International Airport sustained damage during the attacks. Footage circulating online showed significant damage to one of the terminals. The Government of Dubai Media Office reported that four airport staffers were injured and receiving medical treatment, characterizing the damage as “minor” and contained. Separately, the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, was reportedly set ablaze following an Iranian missile strike.

The UAE’s defense ministry reported that the vast majority of the 137 missiles and 209 drones Iran fired at Emirati territory were destroyed or intercepted. The ministry stated it was “on high alert and readiness” and pledged to “firmly confront everything that targets the disruption of the country’s security and stability.”

At the UN: Israel and U.S. Defend Actions

An emergency session of the United Nations Security Council convened Saturday to address the escalating conflict. Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon defended the operation, telling the assembled council that Iranian chants of “Death to Israel, Death to America” and the burning of both nations’ flags constituted “state-sanctioned hatred” and a precursor to action. “But today, alongside our ally the United States, we acted to stop an existential threat before it became irreversible,” Danon declared. “We acted out of necessity.”

Addressing the Iranian people directly, Ambassador Danon said the operation targeted “a regime that has silenced you,” and that Israel stands with the Iranian public.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz articulated Washington’s goals for Operation Epic Fury at the Security Council session: dismantling Iran’s missile capabilities, degrading its naval assets, disrupting the supply chains that arm proxy militias, and ensuring the regime can never obtain a nuclear weapon. Notably, Waltz’s stated objectives did not include regime change — a point of contrast with Trump’s public statements calling on the Iranian people to reclaim their country. “Peace is not preserved by appeasing those who threaten it. Peace is preserved through strength in the face of terror,” Waltz said.

Trump Calls on IRGC to Surrender; Iranian Celebrations Reported

President Trump used his Truth Social announcement to call upon Iranian security forces to stand down, offering immunity to those who capitulate. “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,” Trump wrote, adding that he was hearing that many IRGC, military, and police personnel “no longer want to fight, and are looking for immunity from us.” Such reports have not been independently verified.

Remarkably, witnesses inside Iran reported scenes of celebration in several cities. Reuters correspondents and witnesses said that some Iranians took to the streets of Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Abdanan to celebrate following Trump’s announcement of Khamenei’s death, with cars honking horns and crowds carrying images of protesters killed in the crackdown on the January anti-government demonstrations.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran, who was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, celebrated the reported death of Khamenei and predicted the Islamic Republic would “very soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.” He added that any attempt to appoint a successor to Khamenei “is doomed to fail from the outset.”

Hegseth: ‘We Will Hunt You Down’; Rubio Trip Canceled

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a stark warning in the wake of the strikes. “If you kill or threaten Americans anywhere in the world — as Iran has — then we will hunt you down, and we will kill you,” Hegseth wrote on X.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled a planned visit to Israel that had been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. “Due to current circumstances, Secretary Rubio will no longer travel to Israel on March 2,” Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson announced.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attempted to characterize Israel as having dragged the United States into the conflict. A U.S. official flatly rejected that claim. “Israel did not drag the US into Operation Epic Fury. President Trump acted out of the national interest of the United States,” the official said. “Any claim to the contrary by a desperate and floundering Iran is false.”

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the strikes on Iran Saturday night, calling them a “catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression” and saying, “Americans do not want this… They want peace.” In a post on X, Mamdani wrote, without evidence, that the US was “Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war,” adding that Americans do not want “another war in pursuit of regime change.” He also addressed Iranian New Yorkers, calling them part of the “fabric of this city.”

A large group of Jewish young men are seen celebrating in the streets of London, singing “mi’shnichnad Adar” after news broke of Kahmeni’s death.

A Fox News Mideast correspondent reports: “The strike had to be moved up based on intelligene; this so-called target of opportunity, there was a deliberate decision to accelerate the timeline and to strike during the daytime, which is extremely unusual.”

“Usually, the US would not strike during the daytime, but they wanted to catch the senior leadership off guard. It was a Saturday morning during Ramadan, Ramadan, and it was also Shabbat during the day, and that’s when Israel took the opportunity and dropped those 30 bombs on the compound, and the US simultaneously launched strikes against all of the military targets.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Saturday night on Khamanei’s assassination, saying: “The world is changing very fast right in front of us. The old world is gone.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in a video address, called the Iranian regime “abhorrent”: “Iran has since launched indiscriminate strikes across the region. I know the British people and communicators across our country, will be deeply concerned about what this means for security and stability and for the fate of innocent people across the region, which for so many of us, includes friends and family members.

“So whilst the situation is evolving very quickly, I want to set out our response. The United Kingdom played no role in these strikes, but we have long been clear the regime in Iran is utterly abhorrent. They have murdered thousands of their own people, brutally crushed dissent and sought to destabilize the region.

“Even in the United Kingdom, the Iranian regime poses a direct threat to dissidents and to the Jewish community. Over the last year alone, they have backed more than 20 potentially lethal attacks on UK soil. So it is clear they must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon that remains the primary aim of the United Kingdom and our allies, including the US. I condemn Iran’s attacks today on partners across the region, many of which are not parties to this conflict.

What Comes Next

President Trump pledged that the military campaign would continue. “The heavy and pinpoint bombing will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” he wrote.

Significant uncertainties remain. A U.S. official acknowledged that Washington knows where Iran is stockpiling its highly enriched uranium but described it as “difficult to reach.” Iranian air defense systems remain partially operational, constraining allied air operations.

The operation represents the most dramatic escalation in the decades-long conflict between Iran and the West, with consequences that remain deeply uncertain as the region braces for what comes next.