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Conflict coverage · Iran–Gulf

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is killed

28 Feb 2026Key eventEssential

Leadership changeMilitary

Iran's Supreme Leader is killed on the opening day of the strike campaign. The Congressional Research Service attributes the killing to Israel, and records that dozens of other senior Iranian military and political figures were killed in the same period.

Why it mattersThe office the module authors as Iran's head of state changed hands by violence in the middle of a war. Reporting indicates many of the senior posts vacated at the same time remain unfilled, which is a fact about the Iranian state's capacity rather than about any individual.
Confidence: HighSources: Congressional Research Service — Iran, the Gulf and the Strait of HormuzMethodologyCorrections

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