U.S. and Israel Assassinate Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in AI-Guided Operation Epic Fury

On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel launched a coordinated joint campaign called Operation Epic Fury (U.S.) and Operation Roaring Lion (Israel) against Iran.

“How Will Cyber Warfare Shape the U”

CSIS

Strikes began at 1:15 a.m. EST and had a reported tempo comparable to the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

CSIS

U.S. Central Command said more than 1,000 targets were hit in the first 24 hours.

Defence Industry Europe likewise reports the War Department launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.

These accounts present the operation as a large-scale, synchronized U.S.-Israeli campaign that moved rapidly across multiple domains.

Sources identify the operation’s primary targets as Iranian military and command infrastructure, including IRGC headquarters and aerospace forces, air-defense nodes, ballistic missile sites, naval vessels, anti-ship missile batteries, and military communications networks.

The reports attribute a strategic leadership-targeting effort that resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and "dozens of senior regime officials."

Defence Industry Europe

Accounts frame the strikes as both broad in scope and specifically aimed at regime command structures.

Sources describe a multi-domain kinetic and non-kinetic strike package.

“On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury / Operation Roaring Lion, a joint military campaign against Iran that fundamentally altered the strategic landscape of the Middle East”

Homeland Security Today

The kinetic phase reportedly used B-2 stealth bombers, Tomahawk cruise missiles, F-35s and large numbers of low-cost one-way attack drones from the LUCAS program.

U.S. SPACECOM and CYBERCOM applied space and cyber effects as "first movers" to disrupt Iranian sensors, communications and coordination, actions that reportedly enabled the subsequent large-scale strikes.

Homeland Security Today states there was confirmed use of artificial intelligence tools from Anthropic — specifically the Claude large language model — by the Pentagon in operational support roles, and notes Reuters reported the deployment.

The reporting outlines three principal AI roles likely involved: intelligence fusion and rapid target development; decision support and wargaming; and enabling autonomous or semi-autonomous systems.

CSIS

Those roles are described as compressing the kill chain and increasing operational tempo.

Analysts in the reporting frame the operation and the first combat deployment of advanced AI and integrated space/cyber effects as a major shift in Middle East military dynamics, describing the campaign as "unprecedented in scale and speed" while also noting that many operational details remain classified and reporting is based on official U.S./Israeli statements and media sources.

“The War Department began its strike campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, on Feb”

Defence Industry Europe

The accounts raise questions about escalation, the role of autonomous and AI-enabled systems in high-end conflict, and the strategic consequences of a leadership decapitation strike against Iran.

Defence Industry Europe