US/Israel – Iran
(Kian Sharifi and Golnaz Esfandiari – RFE RL) Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s spiritual leader and highest authority who led the country for almost four decades, was killed during US and Israeli air strikes on February 28 at the age of 86. Praised by his supporters as a wise leader and denounced by his critics as a dictator, Khamenei will be remembered as a monumental figure of the Islamic Revolution who rode a reputation for piety and fierce devotion to the cause to his ascendancy as supreme leader. – Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Highest Authority, Dead At 86
(Amra Zejneli Loxha – RFE RL) General Jack Keane, a retired four-star general and former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, says the US-Israeli military campaign launched against Iran on February 28 is a calculated effort to dismantle the Islamic Republic’s political and military architecture. General Keane, who now serves as chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, told RFE/RL in an interview the strikes, and reports that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the operation made for a “historic day of tremendous significance.” – General Jack Keane Says US-Israeli Operation Aims to Dismantle Iranian Leadership
(RFE RL) Following the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israel continued to pound sites in Iran on the second day of a massive joint attack by Tel Aviv and Washington on the Islamic republic, while Tehran fired back in retaliation. There was no official word early on March 1 of further US air strikes after President Donald Trump a day earlier said Washington had begun “major combat operations” against Iran in one of the biggest Western attacks ever against the Middle East country. However, a senior US defense official told RFE/RL that US strikes are “still under way” and Trump has said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or longer. US defense chief Pete Hegseth wrote on X that the “Iranian regime had their chance, yet refused to make a deal — and now they are suffering the consequences.” – Israel, Iran Launch New Strikes After Death Of Khamenei
(Alex Raufoglu – RFE RL) The United States said on February 28 that it launched preemptive military strikes against Iran after concluding that Tehran was preparing to use its missile arsenal against US forces and allies and had no intention of agreeing to meaningful limits on its nuclear program. On a background call with reporters, senior administration officials argued that intelligence indicating a potential preemptive Iranian strike, combined with what they described as failed nuclear negotiations, left US President Donald Trump with “no choice” but to act. The officials said the decision was driven by what they characterized as a dual threat: Iran’s long-term ambition to acquire nuclear weapons and its immediate conventional missile capabilities. – US Says Iran Rejected Nuclear Offer Before Preemptive Strikes
(Alex Raufoglu – RFE RL) A prominent US political commentator and RFE/RL board member says the latest American strikes on Iran mark the beginning of a sustained campaign aimed not just at military deterrence but at ending the rule of the Islamic republic as it currently exists. In an interview with RFE/RL, Marc Thiessen, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and a Washington Post columnist, framed the military action as a turning point. “What is happening is that the liberation of the Iranian people is at hand,” Thiessen said. “The Iranian people have suffered under a despotic, radical regime run by the ayatollahs since 1979. Now they are being given a chance to rise up and take their country back.” – Marc Thiessen: ‘The Ground Forces Are The Iranian People’
(The Kyiv Independent) Iranian state media confirmed on March 1 that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has died following Israeli-U.S. strikes, ending hours of conflicting claims and denials surrounding his state. The state outlets also reported that several members of Khamenei’s family — including his daughter and granddaughter, as well as his daughter-in-law and son-in-law — were killed in the strikes. Hours before the official confirmation, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Khamenei was killed. “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote, adding: “This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS.” – Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei is dead, Iranian state media confirms
(Zhao Yusha, Xu Yelu and Chen Qingqing – Global Times) Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in his office on Saturday morning during US-Israeli air strikes, media reported. Iran announced 40 days of mourning and vowed to revenge, warning “the most devastating offensive operation in the history of Iran’s armed forces” is set to begin, according to Iranian media. The death of Iran’s supreme leader would be a profound shock to the Islamic Republic, but it is unlikely to bring about the collapse of the regime, as key institutions and succession mechanisms are already in place, a Chinese expert said. The greater risk, the expert warned, lies in what comes next. Such a strike could provoke fierce retaliation from Tehran against the US, potentially drawing Washington into an escalation it may struggle to control. The killing of another country’s leader, the expert added, would deepen distrust and anxiety toward the US among other nations, further damaging its global standing. – Khamenei’s death to provoke fierce retaliation, potentially draw US into escalation it may struggle to control: Chinese expert – Global Times
(Barak Ravid, Marc Caputo – Axios) As Israeli bombs fell on the supreme leader’s compound in Tehran on Saturday morning, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was meeting above ground with several of his top advisers. He never saw it coming. Why it matters: The joint U.S.-Israeli operation that killed Khamenei was the culmination of two months in which President Trump pursued both diplomacy and war — on parallel tracks. On Friday, he chose war. – Two months, two tracks: How Trump chose war with Iran
(Herb Scribner – Axios) President Trump’s bid to topple Iran’s regime marks a sharp break from two decades of U.S. intervention playbooks across multiple presidencies. The big picture: Trump’s weekend strikes on Iran — and his explicit call for an uprising — diverge from how the U.S. approached regime pressure in Iraq and Venezuela, historians tell Axios. The gamble signals a more unpredictable stretch of his foreign policy ahead as he openly threatens force elsewhere. – Why Trump’s Iran’s regime gamble is different than Iraq and Venezuela
(Lauren Floyd – Axios) The U.S.–Israel military operation against Iran Saturday shook the wider Middle East, driving Iranian retaliation and wayward intercepts into Arab cities, airports and oil corridors, from Dubai to Kuwait City. The big picture: Iran’s retaliation campaign has included aiming ballistic missiles and drones at U.S. bases and Israel — and is spilling into neighboring Arab states that host American forces or sit under flight paths. – Iran retaliates after U.S.–Israel strikes, triggering Middle East fallout
(Avery Lotz – Axios) The America First wing of the MAGA coalition wants swift results from Saturday’s Iran strikes, often invoking the late Charlie Kirk’s opposition to foreign wars. The big picture: President Trump’s invasion of Venezuela to capture Nicolás Maduro exposed a rift with some in his base, and a prolonged skirmish in the Middle East could exacerbate those tensions ahead of a difficult midterm election for Republicans. – MAGA figures fear Trump’s Iran attacks are a betrayal of his America First campaign promises
Russia – Ukraine
(Lucy Pakhnyuk – The Kyiv Independent) Russia would accept U.S.-backed security guarantees for Ukraine, the head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Feb. 28. Speaking to reporters during the national Yedyni Novyny (United News) telethon, Budanov said Moscow had previously indicated its willingness to accept guarantees offered by Washington. “At past negotiations, the Russian side directly said that they would accept the security guarantees offered to Ukraine by the U.S.,” Budanov said. He added that Russia understands it may be “forced” to accept such guarantees. – Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine, Budanov says
