The Architect is Dead
Khamenei is gone. Here's everything you need to know about the day that changed the Middle East forever.
February 28, 2026. Our grandkids will be memorizing this date in history class.
I have been writing The Jewsletter after the horrors of October 7, through the hostage crisis, through the ceasefire, through the Iranian uprising, through every moment of hope and heartbreak along the way. I have never written anything like what I am writing today.
Today, the United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran.
The two countries struck Iran simultaneously, decisively, and with stated intent to bring about regime change. In a video released this morning, the President called it “major combat operations” aimed at what he described as an imminent threat to the American people. He told the Iranian people directly: “The hour of your freedom is at hand.”
And then came the news that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is dead.
The man who has bankrolled Hamas. The man who armed Hezbollah. The man who has called “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” The man who ordered the murders of tens of thousands of his own people in the streets just weeks ago. Today that man was eliminated thanks to an Israeli strike.
Operation Epic Fury
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth left nothing to interpretation this morning:
“Overnight, the Department of War commenced OPERATION EPIC FURY — the most lethal, most complex, and most precise aerial operation in history.”
The objectives: Iran’s missiles and missile production, the Iranian navy, and Iran’s nuclear program. His closing line: “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
The Strikes
Look at the map. Multiple strikes in Tehran. Qom, the heart of the clerical establishment. Isfahan, where Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure is concentrated. Shiraz. Kermanshah. Urmia. Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman. This was not a targeted assassination. This was a comprehensive dismantling of everything the regime needed to threaten the world.
The Leadership Is Gone
The IDF released a graphic today showing the senior Iranian officials eliminated in the opening strike. Seven names. Seven faces. The Minister of Defense. The head of the Supreme Leader’s military staff. The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. The IRGC Guard Commander. These were not foot soldiers, they were the architects.
And the list kept growing through the day. Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Commander-in-Chief of the entire Iranian Army, is gone. The top uniformed military officer of Iran. This was a decapitation of Iranian military leadership at the highest level.
Iran’s Response
Iran launched retaliatory strikes across the region, hitting Israel, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan. Sirens sounded across Israel. Civilians have been in bomb shelters ever since.
In Tel Aviv, a missile struck a residential building. Twenty-eight casualties. A woman in her fifties, killed at the scene. She is the first confirmed Israeli civilian killed today.
The strikes are not contained to Israel. Dubai International Airport was hit. The Fairmont and the Burj Al Arab were struck. This is not a regional skirmish. This is a new world.
Then came the lies. When one of Iran's own missiles struck a school and killed more than 100 people, they blamed Israel. Anti-Israel media and celebrities repeated it within minutes. Iran then falsely claimed 50 U.S. service members killed, a Navy ship struck, and multiple bases severely damaged. U.S. Central Command responded point by point in real time. No U.S. casualties. The Armada is fully operational.
Inside Iran Tonight
The Iranian people paid a devastating price in January. Tens of thousands murdered for taking to the streets with their bare hands. Today, Reza Pahlavi said the Islamic Republic will “very soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.”
On the streets of Tehran right now, people are celebrating openly. Not in whispers. In the streets. The death of Khamenei is being met with joy that 47 years of fear could not contain. Fireworks. Car horns. Pictures of protesters killed in January carried through the streets in triumph. Iranians are tearing down images of the Supreme Leader with their bare hands.
At the same time, security forces are opening fire on protesters in Mashhad, Tehran, Karaj, and cities across the country. The regime is dying, and it is killing its own people on the way down. Their bravery tonight is extraordinary. The world needs to be watching.
Iran Is Not Fighting Alone
Iran is not fighting alone. Syrian jihadist group Ansar Al-Tawhid has claimed credit for launching several missiles at Israel. This is the proxy network at work, even as its patron burns. Khamenei may be gone, but the machine he built has its own momentum. This is exactly why the operation cannot stop at the top.
What This Means
This is the regime that has been Israel’s greatest existential threat since 1979. The regime that funneled billions into Hamas, into Hezbollah, into every proxy that has murdered Jewish people for decades.
Succession is already murky. Iran’s Vice President has reportedly taken over with no explanation of President Pezeshkian’s whereabouts or status. In a functioning government, the president leads during a national crisis. The silence tells us something.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Israeli hackers broke into a popular Iranian prayer app this morning, gaining access to millions of phones. Israel sent direct messages to military personnel and Revolutionary Guards calling on them to defect. That is how you win a war like this, not just from the air, but from within.
The IRGC is still on the ground. The Houthis have promised to act. The nuclear program was targeted but we will need to verify what was destroyed. The path ahead is not clear.
But here is what is clear: the greatest state sponsor of terror in the world has been struck at its very core. Israel’s greatest threat is falling.
If you have family or friends in Israel right now, check on them. And keep checking back here, because I am not going anywhere.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Praying for Iranians and Israelis tonight, may God guide your futures accordingly so that the young of your nations can grow together living in harmony instead of mistrust and conflict.
Hoping that the Iranian leadership is decimated.