🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — Senior U.S. officials are doubtful that the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead to regime change in the near future, according to Reuters.

➡️ Pre-strike intelligence assessments indicated he would likely be succeeded by other hardliners, potentially figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, rather than reformists.

➡️ U.S. officials also report no evidence of military defections, considered crucial for any viable uprising.

➡️ Three U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence assessments said there is strong skepticism that Iran’s weakened opposition could successfully overthrow the government.

➡️ One official briefed on internal White House discussions added that IRGC leaders are unlikely to surrender voluntarily, in part because they benefit from an extensive patronage system built to preserve loyalty within the ranks.

🇮🇷🇴🇲🇺🇸⚡️ — Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani is pushing to restart nuclear negotiations with the United States through Omani mediation, according to WSJ.

➡️ At the same time, he is overseeing Iran’s security and military response following the killing of Khamenei, even though he is not officially part of the interim ruling leadership.

🇺🇸🇮🇱❌🇮🇷 — The U.S. and Israel had originally planned to strike Iran on February 21 but postponed the operation due to weather conditions, intelligence considerations, and coordination issues, according to Axios.

➡️ U.S. officials rejected claims that the Geneva negotiations were a deception, saying Washington had presented Iran with a final proposal that included a 10-year moratorium on uranium enrichment along with U.S.-supplied civilian nuclear fuel. They warned that military action would follow if Iran refused.

➡️ In the week between the original and revised strike dates, U.S. and Israeli intelligence grew concerned that Khamenei might relocate to an underground bunker. Israeli officials said efforts were made to signal there was no imminent attack so that Khamenei and others would feel secure.

➡️ A senior Trump administration official said there was surprise that Khamenei was not underground, but added that even if he had been, “we would have gotten him.”

🇺🇸🇮🇱❌🇮🇷 — US-Israeli airstrikes in Tehran, Iran.

🇮🇱❌🇱🇧🇱🇧 — NEW: Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s Parliamentary Council, a member of its Shura Council, and a sitting member of the Lebanese Parliament, was killed in the Israeli strikes on Dahieh earlier tonight, according to Al Hadath.

🇰🇼🇮🇷⚡️ — Air defenses are still active in Kuwait.

➡️ Around 4 Iranian drones have been downed.

🇮🇱❌🇱🇧 — The IDF is sporadically artillery shelling the border towns in southern Lebanon.

🇮🇷🇮🇶🇺🇸⚡️ — Drones have targeted the American base in Erbil, Iraq's Kurdistan region.

🇮🇷❌🇺🇸 — NEW: Iranian air defenses have downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Isfahan, according to state media.

🇮🇷❌📰 — Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani has denied the WSJ report claiming he is pushing to restart negotiations with the U.S. through Omani mediation.

We will not negotiate with the United States