US and Israel Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei in Operation Epic Fury

On Feb. 28 the United States and Israel launched a coordinated campaign described by multiple outlets as 'Operation Epic Fury,' involving joint strikes across Iran.

Western and regional reporting say the strikes targeted military, governmental and leadership sites.

ABC7 New York

Some outlets reported that the strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and numerous senior officials.

Thenationalnews reported that President Trump reportedly launched Operation Epic Fury in coordination with Israel, and said joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran killed several senior Iranian military leaders, including, according to the report, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

AL-Monitor noted reports said Israeli strikes across Iran killed several military and other influential figures and claimed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed.

Time Magazine said joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran since Feb. 28 — dubbed 'Operation Epic Fury' — have killed more than 1,000 people, including over 150 schoolchildren.

BBC coverage framed the strikes as part of a wider campaign, saying the conflict entered a fifth day after coordinated US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February that targeted missile sites, military installations and leadership across the country.

The outlets differ in emphasis: some reports assert leadership deaths while BBC framed the events as a wider campaign without asserting those deaths.

Reporting from humanitarian and mainstream outlets documents heavy civilian losses and at least some U.S. military casualties.

Al Jazeera quoted Iranian relief sources that 'Iran’s Red Crescent says at least 787 people have been killed.'

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera described 'The deadliest reported single incident in Iran was a strike on an elementary school for girls in Minab that killed at least 165 students.'

Time similarly counted large civilian tolls, saying the strikes 'have killed more than 1,000 people, including over 150 schoolchildren.'

The BBC provided multiple tallies, reporting 'Reported Iranian deaths since the strikes began include 787 (Iranian Red Crescent) and, separately, 1,097 civilian deaths including 181 children (US-based HRANA).'

ABC7 New York noted human and force posture consequences, saying 'The fighting has also cost US lives: six Americans killed in action and 18 service members injured, officials say.'

The sources' death tallies differ, with reported counts including 787, more than 1,000, and 1,097 civilian deaths.

Multiple outlets recorded claims that the operation “decapitated” regime leadership while also documenting contradictory or unverified accounts about surviving figures.

“Neither Ayatollah Ali Khamenei nor Ansari have publicly responded to recent claims”

Al Jazeera

thenationalnews summarised that the strikes “killed several senior Iranian military leaders — including, according to the report, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.”

AL-Monitor recorded that “A senior Israeli official told Reuters Khamenei’s body had been found” even as Reuters sources “said Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba… was alive and not in Tehran.”

Iran International flagged that its report was “labelled unconfirmed” when it said “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in U.S./Israeli air strikes.”

The Associated Press emphasised the immediate political consequence: “Iran is urgently seeking a successor after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei … was killed in a surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment.”

The mix of claims and caveats underscores persistent uncertainty about precise targeting, who survived, and independent verification.

Analysts and regional reporting emphasise an uncertain, high-stakes contest over succession that could produce sharply different outcomes.

The Conversation argued that Iran’s clerical succession could follow two very different paths and is now highly uncertain.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Conversation added that February 28 strikes have 'decapitated' parts of the regime, left elites feeling unsafe, and cast doubt on whether figures such as Ali Larijani can preserve the status quo.

PBS reported consequences for specific contenders, noting that an Israeli strike reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, thrusting Mojtaba — a secretive, influential aide — into consideration as a possible successor.

The Hudson Institute suggested institutional fault lines matter, saying that if Iran’s regular army (the Artesh) stays intact and disentangled from the IRGC, it could serve as the main postwar security force.

Regional reporting underlined the constitutional and legitimacy challenges of any rapid wartime appointment, with ایران اینترنشنال cautioning that secret or pressured moves by the Assembly of Experts would 'raise serious questions about legal legitimacy and constitutional norms in Iran.'

Coverage from regional and Western outlets describes a rapid expansion of the fighting, reciprocal strikes across the Gulf, damage to Iran's and proxies' capabilities, and warnings of further spill-over.

“Israeli strikes across Iran were reported to have killed several military and other influential figures, including Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei”

AL-Monitor

BBC reported that Iran has responded with widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and on states hosting US forces across the Gulf (Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia).

AL-Monitor

Al Jazeera Net quoted an Iranian general claiming Tehran had 'recently struck the Israeli General Staff headquarters three times, hit Israeli air bases and strategic radars,' while noting these were Iranian assertions.

thenationalnews recorded Tehran's vow of wider retaliation, quoting the IRGC calling the strikes 'the most devastating offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic' and saying Tehran vowed extensive missile and drone retaliation against Israel and 27 U.S. bases across the region.

Forbes and other analysts traced longer-term attrition, noting that repeated exchanges produced material attrition - depletion and damage to Iranian missile and drone stocks and to allied militias' capabilities - which shaped the timing and effects of the Feb. 28 operation.

Together, these accounts portray a conflict that broadened geographically, inflicted heavy civilian and military losses, and left open the risk of prolonged regional confrontation.