Israel announced a list of senior officials in the Iranian government and military that it believes were killed in the attacks. US President Donald Trump announced that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed when his residence was air-raid by the US on February 28. Hours later, Iranian state television confirmed this information.
Just hours after the US and Israel resumed airstrikes, Iran responded by attacking Israel and US military bases across the Middle East and the Gulf. With an 8-minute speech posted on social media, Mr. Trump actually officially declared war on Iran.
The continued attacks by the US and Israel on Iran are a new political and security event in the region and the world, but not entirely unexpected. Both have prepared carefully for this war. Israel has repeatedly urged Mr. Trump to continue attacking Iran, while the US deploys powerful forces and weapons to the area near Iran, and evacuates military bases in the Middle East and the Gulf to minimize damage in case of retaliation.
Mr. Trump himself has repeatedly warned Iran and issued ultimatums. However, the preconditions set by the US are increasingly numerous and increasingly difficult for Iran to accept.
The US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran immediately after Oman - in the role of mediator in nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran - announced that it had achieved positive initial results. Now that the conflict has resumed and the Iranian Supreme Leader has been assassinated, a new situation has emerged in Iran as well as in relations between Iran and the US and Israel. Negotiations now seem to be no longer raised by the two sides and cannot be continued by either side.
According to statements from the US and Israel, the goal this time is to overthrow the religious leadership and state of Iran, weaken military-defense potential and incite the Iranian people to establish a new regime.
The US and Israel chose the present time to launch a second war because they believe that the Iranian government is in its weakest stage since its establishment 47 years ago, in terms of domestic politics, economy and military. Perhaps Mr. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believe that the current difficult situation of Iranian religious and state leaders is a rare opportunity to definitively resolve, in the most beneficial direction for them, all outstanding issues with Tehran. At the same time, they believe that only changing the current political and religious regime can completely eliminate Iran's missile and nuclear programs.
What will happen to Iran depends on the answer to three questions: how long will the US and Israel maintain war; Iran's ability and level of military response and whether the Iranian people will side with the current regime or act as expected by Mr. Trump.
War is taking place between the US, Israel and Iran, but the entire Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region have become battlefields. Many countries in the region are affected in a chain reaction. The battlefield situation is still volatile, as are the relations between countries in the region with Iran, with each other and with external partners. It is still too early to predict who gains more and who loses less in this war.
