Inside Trump's decision to attack Iran: a window of opportunity'

"The Israelis had been tracking the movements of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and determined there was a window of opportunity to launch attacks as they convened. The thinking behind decapitating the Iranian regime was a belief that while the Iranian revolutionary guard might be deeply loyal to Khamenei, in the event of his death they would not back any of his successors to the same extent."

"On Saturday afternoon, a US official confirmed that the US believed Khamenei and five to 10 top Iranian leaders had been killed in an Israeli strike on a compound in Tehran. Trump later posted on Truth Social that Khamenei had been killed. Trump did not give a reason for why the US had launched attacks when he announced the start of what could be a days-long operation in a video Saturday, but the opportunity to target Khamenei accelerated the timeline for strikes."

"The strikes followed a week of rapid developments and hinged in part on whether Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, concluded Iran was stalling when they met for talks at the residence of Oman's ambassador in Geneva. The attacks were decried by Oman's foreign minister who had helped broker talks, stating: I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined."

The United States and Israel conducted joint military operations against Iran on Saturday, targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and multiple top Iranian leaders. Israeli intelligence had been tracking Khamenei's movements and identified a window of opportunity when Iranian leaders were gathered. The strategic objective was regime decapitation, based on the assessment that while the Revolutionary Guard remained loyal to Khamenei, they would not extend the same loyalty to his successors. Multiple gatherings were targeted during the operation. A US official confirmed that Khamenei and five to ten senior Iranian leaders were killed in an Israeli strike on a Tehran compound. The accelerated timeline for strikes was driven by this opportunity to target Khamenei. The operation drew international criticism, including from Oman's foreign minister who had facilitated negotiations, expressing concern that active peace talks were undermined.

Read at www.theguardian.com