Iran's Supreme Leader Killed in Strike
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in a U.S.–Israeli strike, plunging Tehran into chaos as the government declared 40 days of mourning. In retaliation, Iran has launched a barrage of missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states, while explosions continue to rock the Iranian capital. U.S. intelligence reportedly tracked Khamenei for months before the decisive strike on his compound.
With the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the process to select only the third Supreme Leader in the Islamic Republic's history is now underway. An 88-member body of senior Islamic jurists known as the Assembly of Experts is tasked with choosing his successor. This assembly, whose members are elected by popular vote every eight years, holds the constitutional authority to appoint, supervise, and even dismiss the Supreme Leader. Until a new leader is chosen, a temporary council will assume his duties, consisting of Iran's president, the head of the judiciary, and a cleric from the Guardian Council. The Supreme Leader holds immense power in Iran, serving as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and having the final say on all major state matters, including foreign policy and the nuclear program. The strike follows decades of fraught relations between Iran and the United States, rooted in the 1953 U.S.-backed coup that overthrew Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister. Tensions escalated dramatically after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the ensuing hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Relations between Iran and Israel have been hostile since the 1979 revolution, with Iran not recognizing Israel's legitimacy. Before the revolution, the two countries had a period of cooperation. In recent years, hostilities have played out through proxy conflicts, and more recently, direct military confrontations, including Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in 2025 and 2026. Iran possesses the largest and most diverse ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East, which it views as a crucial deterrent. Its inventory includes short and medium-range missiles capable of reaching Israel and parts of Europe. The country's military is anchored by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a powerful force that operates independently of the regular army and answers directly to the Supreme Leader. Iran is a diverse country of over 90 million people, with Persians comprising the largest ethnic group. The majority of the population is Shia Muslim. A significant portion of Iran's population is under the age of 39, born after the 1979 revolution. The political system of the Islamic Republic is a complex mix of theocratic and democratic elements. While there are elected officials like the president and members of parliament, their power is subordinate to the Supreme Leader and unelected bodies like the Guardian Council, which vets candidates and legislation.
