Killing Leaders Doesn’t Kill the System

Photograph Source: khamenei.ir – CC BY 4.0

President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Iran as a serious and immediate threat to U.S. interests, signaling a willingness to target senior leadership figures. That posture rested on a familiar assumption: remove the people at the top, and the regime weakens or collapses.

In Iran, coordinated U.S.–Israeli airstrikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026, ending his 36-year rule of the Islamic Republic. Iranian state media confirmed his death...