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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly contacted President Trump on February 23, informing him of the upcoming location of a high-level meeting of Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The intelligence was specific and actionable. Within days, the decision to proceed with a coordinated strike had been made at the highest levels of both governments.
The most consequential strike of the opening wave was the one that killed Ali Khamenei. Israeli forces struck what they described as a central leadership compound in the heart of Tehran. Iranian state media confirmed Khamenei’s death on March 1. He had led Iran since 1989, succeeding Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. His assassination sent shockwaves through Iran, through the region, and through every government that had been following the deteriorating situation with alarm. Iranian officials who survived the opening strikes expressed immediate fear, according to later reporting, that Israel intended to continue eliminating Iranian leaders until the Islamic Republic itself was dismantled.
In the days that followed, Israel continued intensive strike operations across Iran, targeting what it described as the infrastructure of the Iranian military threat. Oil storage depots in and around Tehran were struck, including the Aghdasieh warehouse in the northeast, the Tehran refinery in the south, and the Shahran depot in the west. Fires burned for days across the capital, sending toxic smoke across residential neighborhoods. Iran’s Deputy Health Minister warned that the burning of oil facilities would cause respiratory damage, soil contamination, and acid rain — effects he argued had nothing to do with military infrastructure. Israel stated that the fuel storage sites were being used to power military operations.
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