Iran Retaliates, Israel Strikes Back
Iran launched a wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Israeli cities overnight, a direct response to the killing of Supreme Leader Khamenei. In response, Israeli and U.S. forces have pounded Iranian missile sites and naval assets, with explosions rocking Tehran as the region braces for a wider war.
With the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's constitution dictates a temporary leadership council will assume his duties. This council is comprised of the country's president, the head of the judiciary, and a cleric from the powerful Guardian Council. Their primary role is to oversee the state until the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member body of clerics, selects a new permanent Supreme Leader. The Iranian counter-attack utilized a range of its ballistic missile arsenal, which is considered the largest and most diverse in the Middle East. Among the missiles in its inventory capable of reaching Israel are the Sejil, with a range of up to 2,500 km, the Kheibar (2,000 km), and the Haj Qasem, which has a range of 1,400 km. Iran has also heavily invested in unmanned aerial vehicles like the Shahed and Mohajer series. The U.S. has amassed a significant military presence in the region, including two aircraft carrier strike groups led by the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford. This naval force, the largest in the area in decades, includes guided-missile destroyers and is supplemented by land-based assets, including F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters. The U.S. has an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 military personnel stationed across the Middle East. The joint U.S.-Israeli response has targeted a wide array of Iranian military infrastructure. Satellite imagery confirms strikes on underground "missile cities," naval facilities in the Gulf of Oman, and airbases near the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. A stated goal of the Israeli strikes was the decapitation of Iran's leadership, targeting not just Khamenei but also other senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
