China Not Expected to Support Iran Militarily

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the late Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

On February 28, 2026, Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike in Tehran, with CIA intelligence reportedly used to locate senior leaders. A three-person leadership council, including President Pezeshkian, the judiciary chief, and a senior cleric, has been formed to hold power until a successor is named. Iranian retaliatory strikes continue to hit...