The U.S.–Israeli War on Iran: Gains and Losses

On February 28, 2026, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an operation U.S. President Donald Trump said was carried out in direct coordination with Israel. The killing marks a historic rupture, reshaping the very contours of the conflict between Iran, and the U.S.-Israeli axis. For years, Washington leaned on diplomacy, pairing negotiations with a strategy of “maximum pressure” through sanctions to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israel, by contrast, never concealed its preference for the use of force, repeatedly signaling its readiness to dismantle Iran’s program militarily, and urging the United States to back that course. That posture reflects a long-standing doctrine Israel had enacted before, destroying Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981, and striking Syria’s nuclear infrastructure in […]