US & Israel Launch Major Combat Attacks on Iran Update: Khamenei Confirmed Dead

M.A. Dworkin

Tehran, Iran - In an effort to force regime change, U.S and Israeli forces have launched major airstrikes on several cities in Iran targeting military and Iranian leadership sites in an effort to knock out the terrorist regime’s ability to build nuclear bombs that would eventually be used against American and Israeli cities.

Iran has retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel, and several American and Israeli interests across the region including  Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Kuwait.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement posted on X, saying the country will not hesitate in its response. “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault.”

President Donald Trump has urged the Iranian people to “seize control of your destiny and take over” the government, saying: 

“This will probably be your only chance for generations. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump said in a video, announcing “major combat operations” were underway. “For many years you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it.”

     Israel said the military operation has been in the planning for months between the Israeli and U.S. militaries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed that sweeping goal.

“Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands,” Netanyahu said in a statement. 

There was an initial mixed response reported in the streets of Tehran amongst Iranians, including panic as explosions were seen in central Tehran, but there was also a great sense of relief, reported by correspondents in the city, that the end may be approaching to the brutal regime that has ruled the Islamic nation since 1979.       

Growing unrest was followed by recent unprecedented massive nationwide protests which led to a crackdown on dissidents by the Khamenei government that amounted to the slaughter of a reported 30,000 Iranians who dared to protest the government’s policies. 

Smoke could be seen rising from the capital as the offices of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with the Presidential office in Tehran were bombed, as well as a number of military sites across the country.

Washington has amassed a huge fleet of warships and bombers in the waters surrounding Iran as the Trump Administration ramped up pressure on Tehran to agree to a new deal on its nuclear program. But Trump stated on Friday February 27, 2026, that after weeks of negotiations, he was not happy with Iran’s negotiating position. The current strikes mark the second time in eight months that the Trump Administration has used military force against the Islamic Republic. Back in June 2025, they used targeted bunker bombs to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities. To what extent those strikes were successful has been a subject of debate. But in those strikes Iran’s air defenses were greatly weakened. 

Dramatic political changes across the region have left Iran’s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half century ago, before  which Iran was regarded as one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East. 

Trump has stated that he is looking to “annihilate” the Iranian navy and destroy regional terrorist proxies supported by Tehran.  He called on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to lay down its arms, pledging that members would be given immunity, while warning they would face “certain death” if they didn’t. 

The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran is able to make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. More than 14 million barrels per day of oil pass through the strait, which is about one-third of total worldwide oil exports transported by sea. 

Update: President Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have confirmed that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed by U.S.-Israel Air strikes.