New Delhi, March 10 -- The targeted assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 28 February 2026 stands as one of the most consequential decapitation strikes in contemporary international relations. As Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic since 1989, Khamenei has served as the regime's ideological anchor, strategic resolve, and institutional endurance. His assassination at age 86, in the initial salvo of joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes codenamed Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, has unleashed a cascade of repercussions that extend far beyond immediate military gains, reshaping Iran's internal dynamics, and testing the boundaries of global norms.

Khamenei got assasinated at his Tehran residence alongside family members, senio...