India, March 6 -- Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death came from above. Literally.

The strike that killed the 86-year-old cleric was carried out using a powerful air-launched missile known as the Blue Sparrow, a weapon capable of travelling to the edge of space before plunging back toward Earth at extremely high speed.

The US-Israeli strike on Saturday was a dramatic beginning of a war that has now spread across the Middle East.

According to reports, the missile was fired during a coordinated Israeli operation targeting senior Iranian leadership inside Tehran, striking Khamenei's heavily guarded compound on Pasteur Street where several top officials had gathered for a meeting.

Iranian state media confirmed the supreme le...