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Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Fox News Digital in an interview the United States now has a clear and defined military objective in Iran: dismantle the regime’s ability to strike Americans.

He said the U.S. mission is "to literally eliminate every single piece of military hardware that exists in Iran that can reach out and touch an American somewhere throughout the Middle East."

"That is what we are conducting right now so that we do not get hit with something, a surface-to-surface missile or a surface-to-air missile or anything else, certainly with a nuclear tip, but with any other tip as well."

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER ALI KHAMENEI DEAD AFTER IDF STRIKE HITS TEHRAN COMPOUND, ISRAELI SOURCE CONFIRMS

Mast paid tribute to the three Americans killed in the operation. "These service members understood the hazards of their profession. They went out there, conducted their duty to defend the United States of America, and I could not be more proud than to thank them for their service, and I’m proud to be their brother in arms."

He stressed that the scope and duration of the operation will be decided by the administration. "The ending of this militarily for the United States is on our terms," he said.

Mast pushed back forcefully against claims that Israel dragged the United States into war with Iran, saying the Trump administration first pursued diplomacy and set a deadline before shifting to military action.

"Israel has not dragged the United States of America anywhere," he said in the interview. "The United States, number one, started out with diplomatic negotiations with Iran to say, end your nuclear program, end your ballistic missile program and your support of these proxies that are continually attacking the United States of America."

OMAR, SQUAD LASH OUT AT TRUMP IN RESPONSE TO IRAN STRIKE: 'ILLEGAL REGIME CHANGE WAR'

"Everything is a part of that debate and that conversation. When should something be done? How should something be done? Obviously, the United States of America and President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Rubio, our director of intelligence, our director of our CIA, John Ratcliffe, working to get all of the assets in place so that the negotiating tool of ending the literal threat of Iran, was a part of that."

"It didn't just happen on accident that we snapped our fingers and we had the Ford carrier group there, the Lincoln carrier group. That is something that took time," he added. "Now, the diplomatic approach was the preferred approach. That's why it began with that instead of beginning with a military strike. And what I can tell you about those negotiations, speaking directly to those individuals that I just mentioned, is that Iran came into this extremely egotistical, unwilling to really discuss anything relating to ending their nuclear program," he said.

IRAN VOWS 'DECISIVE' SELF DEFENSE AT UN AFTER TRUMP KILLS SUPREME LEADER IN OPERATION EPIC FURY

"Even after the United States offered to fund nuclear materials for a civilian energy program if Iran agreed not to pursue weaponization, they didn't want that. They didn't wanna talk about ending their ballistic missile program."

Looking ahead, Mast suggested the conflict could reshape Iran’s political future. He described the regime’s formal succession process, which "begins with this three-person body, ultimately moves to this 88-person assembly that would go out there and choose the next leader," and noted potential contenders, including "the son of the Ayatollah, grandson of the ayatollah" and "a very hard-line cleric named Arafi, who's very closely aligned with the IRGC."

But he also raised the possibility of broader upheaval.

"That assumes that there is no uprising, where the people, the millions and millions of people across Iran, who have been just brutally tortured and suppressed, don't decide that there is another path," Mast said.

"We want to see a change, a turning of the page for what Iran has been undertaking."

As the White House confirmed on Sunday, the Islamic Republic of Iran's leadership has contacted the U.S. asking for talks. The list of potential successors to replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on Saturday by an Israeli airstrike, includes his son and former advisers. 

Since the establishment in 1979 of the Islamic Republic, led by the fiery anti-American Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, this will be only the second time that a new supreme leader has been selected. 

The potential successors to Khamenei include a list of hard-line anti-Western extremists who, like Khamenei, are set on the destruction of Israel and the continued export of the Islamic revolution.

IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER ALI KHAMENEI DEAD AFTER IDF STRIKE HITS TEHRAN COMPOUND, ISRAELI SOURCE CONFIRMS

One possible successor is regime loyalist Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who reportedly implemented Khamenei’s plan to massacre over 30,000 Iranians who protested against his regime in January.

On Saturday, he threatened a response in a statement on X on Saturday, writing, "We will make the Zionist criminals and the vile Americans regret it," adding, "The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hell-bound oppressors of the international order."

In January, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Larijani as one of "the architects of the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators." The statement added, "Larijani was one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people."

Larijani was the president of the Islamic Republic’s parliament and, like Khamenei, has engaged in Holocaust denial. Larijani was also a commander for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S. and EU-designated terrorist organization.

TOMAHAWKS SPEARHEADED US STRIKE ON IRAN — WHY PRESIDENTS REACH FOR THIS MISSILE FIRST

Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at the Institute of National Security Studies in Israel, questioned reports claiming that Larijani is favorite to be the next supreme leader. He told Fox News Digital, "Larijani is not a cleric, but he can help some of the candidates who are clerics behind the curtains, such as his brother, Mohammad-Javad Larijani, who was head of the judiciary." 

Mohammad-Javad Larijani has called for the destruction of Israel and denied the Holocaust. He was previously secretary general of Iran's high council for human rights. 

As a close adviser to the late supreme leader, he has defended stoning for adultery, declaring it protects "family values" as part of Islamic law. 

Another replacement for Khamenei might be his second son, Mojtaba, who works closely with IRGC. The first Trump administration sanctioned him in 2019. 

According to the Treasury Department sanction designation, "The Supreme Leader has delegated a part of his leadership responsibilities to Mojataba Khamenei, who worked closely with the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and also the Basij Resistance Force (Basij) to advance his father’s destabilizing regional ambitions and oppressive domestic objectives." 

JEB BUSH COMMENDS FORMER RIVAL TRUMP’S IRAN OP: ‘THIS IS THEIR TIME TO TAKE THEIR COUNTRY BACK’

Iran International reported that the IRGC seeks a rapid-fire replacement for Khamenei. The Islamic system in Iran prescribes an elected body of 88 senior clerics—the Assembly of Experts—to select the next leader.

The cleric and jurist Alireza Arafi, 67, who is part of a three-person temporary leadership council to run Iran might also be the successor to Khamenei.

According to the U.S.group United Against a Nuclear Iran, Arafi promised "death" to protesters who knock over the turbans of Iranian Islamic clerics. "Those who attack the turbans of the clergy should know that the turban will become their shroud," Arafi said. 

OBAMA OFFICIAL WHO BACKED IRAN DEAL SPARKS ONLINE OUTRAGE WITH REACTION TO TRUMP'S STRIKE: 'SIT THIS ONE OUT'

The extremist Ayatollah Mohammad-Mehdi Mirbagheri is also a contender to replace Khamenei. Mirbagheri argues for fighting and overcoming "infidels." 

Mirbagheri has quoted Iran's first Supreme Leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, declaring that a "new culture based on Islam in the world" would mean "hardship, martyrdom and hunger" and that Iranian people had "voluntarily chosen" to embrace this activity, according to Iran International. Mirbagheri’s theological credentials position him as a natural replacement for Khamenei.

Another clerical successor to Khamenei being discussed is Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He is the custodian of the Khomeini mausoleum and, at 53 is young by the Islamic Republic’s standards for leadership.

United Against a Nuclear Iran ranked Ayatollah Seyyed Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, who was born in 1956 in Bardkhun, Bushehr, a second tier candidate to replace Khamenei.

IRAN'S TERROR PROXIES FROM IRAQ-TO-LEBANON SAY READY TO RESPOND TO US-ISRAEL ATTACKS

"Bushehr, is a powerful figure in Iran's religious and academic spheres. He embarked on his theological education in Bushehr before moving to Qom to further his studies. 

According to UANI, In 2024, Bushehri urged Iranian women to "address issues such as the status of women's rights in Western societies and the flaws that exist in this area in the West," which would prevent the "enemy [the West]" to "not even have a chance to challenges us [Iran]."

Iran analyst, Sabti, who was born in Tehran, said, "I don’t think that Israel and the U.S. should allow them to choose the next leader." He compared the successor system to Hamas when Israel eliminates a Hamas terrorist leader, and he is swiftly replaced with a new leader. 

"There is a need to "prevent the next leader from being chosen," he said. "Maybe we can eliminate the next one even before he is chosen." 

He said it is important to "break the system" to prevent the continuation of terrorism. "It is bad for Arab countries and Israel if the regime remains the same" in Iran.  

Sabti said the regime can continue to build its illicit nuclear weapons program, ballistic missiles and sponsor terrorism, adding it is better to dissolve the regime and "bring in a new system. 

He concluded that regime change requires "talking to the people," and, "maybe it is time for them to come out and make the good revolution." 

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Saeid Iravani, sparred with U.S. envoy Mike Waltz at a Security Council session on Sunday, telling the American ambassador to "be polite," a remark that drew a sharp rebuke from Waltz, who accused Tehran of killing "tens of thousands" of its own citizens and imprisoning many more simply for seeking freedom from "your tyranny."

"I have one word only: I advise to the representative of the United States to be polite," Iravani said during the emergency meeting.

Moments later, Waltz responded: "Frankly, I’m not going to dignify this with another response, especially as this representative sits here in this body representing a regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people and imprisoned many more simply for wanting freedom from your tyranny."

UN CHIEF BLASTED AS ‘ABJECTLY TONE-DEAF’ OVER MESSAGE TO IRAN MARKING REVOLUTION ANNIVERSARY

The exchange came during an emergency Security Council briefing as the United States, Israel and Iran entered war, with diplomats offering sharply different interpretations of the expanding military campaign and its legality under international law.

In extended remarks at the session, Waltz rejected what he described as Iran’s "ridiculous and frankly farcical assertion" that U.S. actions violated international law, arguing that the United States acted "in close coordination with the Government of Israel" and "in line with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations," which addresses self-defense.

He also reiterated that Iran supports armed proxies across the region and has destabilized the Middle East for decades.

AMBASSADOR MIKE WALTZ LAYS OUT ‘AMERICA FIRST’ VISION FOR US LEADERSHIP AT THE UN

The clash unfolded against the backdrop of broader controversy surrounding Iran’s standing within the U.N. system, previously reported by Fox News Digital. Last month, Iran was elected vice chair of the U.N. Charter Committee, a body focused on examining and strengthening the principles of the U.N.’s founding document — a move that drew criticism from Israeli and Western officials.

Fox News Digital also reported earlier that month on backlash after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres sent a congratulatory message to Iran marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a gesture critics described as "abjectly tone-deaf" given Tehran’s human rights record.

The United States is set to assume the rotating presidency of the Security Council on March 1, a role that shifts monthly and gives the presiding country control over the council’s agenda and meeting schedule, placing Washington in a key procedural position as tensions continue to mount.

Three U.S. service members were killed and five others were seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Sunday morning.

In addition, several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of being returned to duty, CENTCOM announced.

"The situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information, including the identities of our fallen warriors, until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified," CENTCOM said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

Pope Leo XIV warned Sunday that U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Iran risk plunging the Middle East into an "irreparable abyss," urging leaders to halt a dangerous spiral of violence.

Speaking at the Angelus, the pontiff expressed "deep concern" over recent developments and called on nations to choose dialogue over war.

"Stability and peace are not built with mutual threats, nor with weapons, which sow destruction, pain, and death, but only through a reasonable, authentic, and responsible dialogue," the pope said, according to Vatican News.

MIKE POMPEO: OPERATION EPIC FURY IS RIGHTEOUS — AND REGIME CHANGE MUST FOLLOW

"Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions," he added, "I address to the parties involved a heartfelt appeal to assume the moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss!"

The pope's warning came after Israel and the U.S. launched a joint military operation against Iran on Saturday, dubbed "Operation Epic Fury." The attacks reportedly killed several senior leaders, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for more than three decades.

 Meanwhile, Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed miles from Jerusalem.

The pope reinforced his warning in a two-part message posted Sunday morning on X.

PUTIN: KILLING OF KHAMENEI A 'CYNICAL VIOLATION' OF MORALITY

"I am following with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East and in Iran during this tumultuous time," he wrote.

"Stability and peace are not achieved through mutual threats, nor through the use of weapons, which sow destruction, suffering, and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue."

In a follow-up post, he warned of "the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions" and urged all parties involved to "assume the moral responsibility of halting the spiral of violence before it becomes an unbridgeable chasm."

"May diplomacy regain its proper role, and may the well-being of peoples, who yearn for peaceful existence founded on justice, be upheld. And let us continue to pray for peace," he added.

At least nine people are dead and more than two dozen injured, after violent clashes outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.

Hundreds of protesters stormed the diplomatic compound in a sharp escalation of anti-American demonstrations.

The unrest followed reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike, sparking anger among Shiite Muslims in Pakistan.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that many of the protesters were Shiite Muslims who expressed outrage over Khamenei’s reported death and alleged U.S. involvement. Protesters chanted anti-American and anti-Israel slogans, and attempted to breach the consulate’s perimeter.

SUSTAINED WAR WITH IRAN COULD DRAIN US MISSILE STOCKPILES, TEST ESCALATION CONTROL

Security forces deployed police and paramilitary units as clashes intensified outside the compound.

Between 25 and 30 people were wounded in the clashes, according to local officials.

Pakistani authorities tightened security around the consulate and other U.S. diplomatic missions in Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar amid fears the unrest could spread. The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan issued a security alert urging American citizens to monitor local news, avoid large crowds and remain vigilant.

IRAN GOES DARK AMID 'REGIME PARANOIA', BLACKOUT FOLLOWS ISRAELI, US STRIKES ON COMPOUND

"We are monitoring reports of ongoing demonstrations at the U.S. Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, as well as calls for additional demonstrations at U.S. Embassy Islamabad and Consulate General Peshawar," the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said on X. "We advise U.S. citizens in Pakistan to monitor local news and observe good personal security practices, including being aware of your surroundings, avoiding large crowds, and ensuring your STEP registration is up to date."

The violence comes amid escalating tensions between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program, regional influence and support for proxy groups.

IRANIANS CELEBRATE WORLDWIDE AFTER SUPREME LEADERS ARE KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKES

Pakistan has seen protests over what demonstrators describe as Western aggression.

The unrest comes as U.S. and Israeli forces continue coordinated strikes targeting Iranian military infrastructure, air defenses and command centers. The Pentagon named the mission Operation Epic Fury, while the Israel Defense Forces called its portion Operation Lion’s Roar. U.S. officials said the strikes aim to degrade Tehran’s military capabilities and neutralize what they describe as imminent threats to the United States and its allies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, calling the death, which came amid strikes from Israel and the U.S. a "cynical violation" of norms.

Putin made the statement in a letter to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that the Kremlin released to the public in the wake of Khamenei's death. Saturday's bold daytime strikes eliminated Khamenei along with several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"Please accept my deep condolences in connection with the murder of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law," Putin wrote.

"In our country, Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations and bringing them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership," Putin continued.

GULF STATES CONDEMN IRANIAN RETALIATORY STRIKES ON THEIR TERRITORIES FOLLOWING US-ISRAELI OPERATION

"I ask you to convey my most sincere sympathy and support to the family and friends of the Supreme Leader, the government and the entire people of Iran," he added.

Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani condemned the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that rained down on his country throughout Saturday during a U.N. Security Council meeting.

Iravani accused the U.S. of undermining its claims of pursuing international stability while attacking a sovereign country for its "domestic" activities.

TRUMP TELLS IRANIANS THE 'HOUR OF YOUR FREEDOM IS AT HAND' AS US-ISRAEL LAUNCH STRIKES AGAINST IRAN

"Neither the charter nor international law recognize internal matters of a state as justification for the use of force by other states. The rule of law would be replaced by the rule of force," Iravani said.

"Iran will continue to exercise its right of self-defense decisively and without hesitation until the aggression ceases in full and unequivocal terms."

On Saturday morning, President Donald Trump ordered the execution of Operation Epic Fury, citing Tehran’s continued efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

HISTORIC US-ISRAEL STRIKES ON IRAN UNDERWAY AS TEHRAN FACES REGIME SURVIVAL TEST

"It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I'll say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon," Trump said in remarks about the attack Saturday.

Trump said the strikes were meant to "defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime" and that they had come after Iran had refused to abandon plans to develop nuclear capabilities.

Iravani called the attack a continuation of longstanding U.S. aggression against Iran.

"Mr. president, this morning the United States regime, jointly and in coordination with the Israeli regime, initiated an unprovoked and premeditated aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the second time in recent months," Irvani said, referring to strikes the U.S. carried out against its nuclear enrichment sites last year. "The president of the United States and the prime minister of the Israeli regime have openly claimed responsibility for this act of aggression and have explicitly articulated regime change as their objective, an unmistakable admission of their intent to violate Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Fox News' Leo Briceno and Reuters contributed to this report.

Iran entered a new chapter Saturday after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, abruptly ending more than three decades of authoritarian rule and setting in motion a leadership transition the regime has long prepared.

A senior Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that while Khamenei’s demise is a "massive blow" to the Islamic Republic, Tehran anticipated the possibility and took steps to withstand such a scenario.

"Mere survival, at this point, would be considered a victory," the diplomat said of the regime, according to the outlet, following U.S. and Israeli strikes across the country.

A recent report from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) outlined three broad trajectories for a post-Khamenei Iran: managed regime continuity, an overt or creeping military takeover, or systemic collapse.

WORLD LEADERS SPLIT OVER MILITARY ACTION AS US-ISRAEL STRIKE IRAN IN COORDINATED OPERATION

CFR cautioned that even a leadership change at the top would not necessarily translate into meaningful political reform in the near term, given the regime’s deeply institutionalized power structure and its record of using force to maintain control.

The report notes that the real balance of power rests within a tight circle of clerical elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

It describes a likely "continuity" scenario as producing "Khamenei-ism without Khamenei," in which a successor from within the regime preserves the ideological framework of the Islamic Republic while relying on established security institutions to preserve stability.

LEAKED DOCUMENTS EXPOSE KHAMENEI'S SECRET DEADLY BLUEPRINT FOR CRUSHING IRAN PROTESTS

"The Islamic Republic's constitution includes a succession process. The Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, is constitutionally charged with selecting the next supreme leader," Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital. 

"In the interim, should there be a leadership vacancy, an interim leadership council is formed comprised of the president, chief justice, and a member of the Guardian Council selected by the Expediency Council," he added. "The IRGC is a key stakeholder in this process, and will heavily influence its outcome."

Over the past three decades, the Bayt-e Rahbari, or the Office of the Supreme Leader, expanded into what a February report by UANI described as a "sprawling parallel state" operating alongside Iran’s formal institutions.

The analysis characterizes the Office as the regime’s "hidden nerve center," extending control across the military, security establishment and major economic foundations in ways that make the system’s authority institutional rather than dependent on Khamenei’s physical presence.

"The supreme leader today is no longer just one man; he is represented through an all-encompassing institution that consolidates power, manages succession, and guarantees continuity," the non-partisan policy organization said. "The Islamic Republic’s most enduring strength lies in this hidden architecture of control, which will continue to shape the country’s future long after Khamenei himself departs from the scene."

Iran was plunged into an internet blackout Saturday after Israel and the U.S. launched military strikes around the country, according to a global internet monitor.

Within hours of the strikes — which officials said targeted infrastructure and killed dozens of senior regime figures at a compound in Tehran— NetBlocks CEO Alp Toker confirmed connectivity started "flatlining."

"We're tracking the ongoing blackout, but our assessment is that this is straight out of Iran's wartime playbook and consistent both technically and strategically with what we saw during the 2025 Twelve-Day War with Israel," Toker told Fox News Digital.

"Iran's internet connectivity is now flatlining around the 1% level, so the original blackout the regime imposed during the morning has been consolidated," he confirmed.

"The blackout was imposed just after 7:00 UTC, not long after the attack on the Iranian regime compound," Toker clarified, adding that Iran had been largely offline for approximately 12 hours following the attack.

"At 06:10 UTC, there is the main compound strike; at 07:10 UTC, telecoms disruption starts; at 08:00 UTC, the blackout is largely in effect; and by 08:30 UTC, connectivity flatlines."

"Wartime national blackouts are exceedingly rare around the world, and it's something we've only really seen at this scale in Iran," he said.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST IRAN, DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS

In the wake of the attack, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the "heavy and pinpoint" bombing in Iran "will continue uninterrupted throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!"

He claimed Iranian security forces and members of the regime’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were already seeking immunity. He urged them to "peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots."

"We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces no longer want to fight and are looking for Immunity from us," Trump said in the post. "As I said last night, ‘Now they can have Immunity; later they only get Death!’"

Toker argued the timing of the blackout suggested it was imposed deliberately as the regime sought to secure communications amid fears of further targeting.

TRUMP TELLS IRANIANS THE 'HOUR OF YOUR FREEDOM IS AT HAND' AS US-ISRAEL LAUNCH STRIKES AGAINST IRAN

"The Iranian regime will have deployed this new blackout to counter potential cyberattacks during their own military operation, but also to avoid leaking the locations of senior regime figures through metadata and user-generated content," he said.

"Communications would have been limited, and Iran's leadership would have proceeded with the assumption that all communications, including satellite or whitelisted networks, carry risks," he said before claiming that "paranoia would be well grounded at this point, with the blackout a belated but direct response to that."

"Those participating directly would already know to avoid technology that could betray their whereabouts," Toker said.

"However, the metadata may well have played a part in determining that the meeting of regime leaders was being held at the Tehran compound, who was in attendance, and at what time."

DID THEY GET HIM? KHAMENEI'S FATE REMAINS UNKNOWN AFTER ISRAEL-US STRIKE LEVELS HIS COMPOUND

Toker revealed that the broader network around the regime leaders and around the compound wouldn't have had the same strict restrictions.

"This kind of adjacent ‘background noise’ can be correlated against other intelligence sources to build an understanding of activity on the ground," he added.

"Smartphones are a readily available, almost ‘free’ source of intelligence, and even when locked down, they eventually connect to international online services and generate insights that can be used to pinpoint regime figures," Toker said.

"In the aftermath of Saturday’s strike, this concern will have been high on the remaining Iranian leadership’s minds, especially if they didn't have a clear and specific understanding of how the meeting was compromised."

Iran has previously imposed sweeping internet shutdowns during periods of domestic unrest, including nationwide protests in January, which saw thousands killed, often seeking to curb the spread of information and restrict coordination.

Iranians across the country could be seen and heard celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after coordinated Israeli strikes overnight.

In one video, Iranians near Karaj, Iran, outside the capital of Tehran, took to the streets, honked their horns and cheered.

In social media videos, Iranians in Tehran cheered from their apartments, playing loud music and setting off fireworks as the news spread.

TRUMP OVERSEES US STRIKES ON IRAN FROM MAR-A-LAGO, SPEAKS WITH NETANYAHU: WH

In Fuladshahr, people packed the streets, waving their arms in the air, whistling, honking and cheering over the news.

In Borazjan, Iran, celebrants chanted and, in Mamasani, they waved flags and danced.

People also celebrated in the Iranian cities of Shiraz and Abadan, "where the people are out on the streets till the wee hours of the night in celebration of an Iran that is on the brink of finding its freedom after almost five decades," according to Lisa Daftari, editor at The Foreign Desk.

IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES

Iranian people also cheered the news in other parts of the world, such as Madrid, London, Berlin, Armenia and the United States.

"Iranian people all over the world, from Los Angeles to Tehran, are on the streets celebrating [in] sheer jubilation over the dawn of a new and free Iran," Daftari told Fox News Digital.

"Iranians poured onto the streets cheering, clapping, waving the lion and sun flag, dancing openly and singing the old national anthem. It’s hard to imagine a people so starved for freedom, so desperate for justice, that they are cheering military strikes on their own soil as the price of liberation."

In Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community in the U.S., hundreds came out to wave Iranian and American flags on Saturday. 

Some people also held signs bearing expressions such as, "Make Iran Great Again."

"I love America. I love everything about this country," Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad told Fox News Saturday.

"I grew up in a country where I was brainwashed to say, ‘Death to America,' the same country — how ironic — the same country that saved my life three times and is now helping my people in Iran. They’re celebrating. They’re celebrating out of joy.

"Thank you, President Trump, for taking decisive action. This is how true leadership looks like."

Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, like Boston; Washington, D.C.; and New York City held competing anti-war protests, as did cities in Europe.

In coordinated, sweeping U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran in the predawn hours of Saturday, key military and nuclear-linked sites were targeted inside the country.

The strikes focused on what U.S. officials described as high-value Iranian targets, which included Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control facilities, naval assets and underground sites believed to be associated with Iran’s nuclear program. 

In addition, Iranian air defense weapons, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields were also targeted, according to officials. 

Israeli forces targeted sites linked to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a senior Israeli official confirmed to Fox News. 

President Donald Trump confirmed Saturday afternoon that Khamenei had been killed in a strike. He is among more than 40 senior Iranian security and regime figures killed in the attack, a senior Israeli official told Fox News.

IF KHAMENEI FALLS, WHO TAKES IRAN? STRIKES WILL EXPOSE POWER VACUUM — AND THE IRGC’S GRIP

"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS."

He also claimed that the IRGC is seeking immunity from the U.S.

The leaders had all been meeting at a compound in Tehran on Saturday morning.

FBI RAISES COUNTERTERROR TEAMS TO HIGH ALERT AMID IRAN TENSIONS

The strikes were moved up due to the "target of opportunity," multiple sources told Fox News, which is why the strikes happened in the daytime in Iran, keeping the element of surprise. "There was a deliberate decision to accelerate the timeline," one source said.

The campaign, which Trump described overnight from Mar-a-Lago as the beginning of "major combat operations" in the region, encompasses multi-geographic targets in an effort to overwhelm Iran’s defensive capabilities.

ISRAEL'S LARGEST EVER MILITARY FLYOVER HAMMERS IRANIAN MILITARY TARGETS

The strikes could also continue for multiple days.

Trump said the campaign aimed to devastate Iran’s military, dismantle its nuclear program, and he urged the Iranian people to "take over" their government.

Tomahawk cruise missiles were used in the first strikes of the operation, called Operation Epic Fury, along with one-way attack drones that were used for the first time, according to a U.S. official.

Fox News' Liz Friden, Morgan Phillips, Amanda Macias, Alexandra Koch and Kelley Kramer contributed to this report. 

Israel struck its key target in Tehran Saturday in what a defense expert has described as a multi-million dollar precision-guided attack alongside a broader offensive involving U.S. waves of lower-cost kamikaze drones.

Cameron Chell, CEO of drone manufacturer Draganfly, told Fox News Digital the campaign would have likely paired advanced and costly assets against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound, while U.S. forces used cheaper drones to "overwhelm" on land, air and sea.

"Saturday saw an overwhelming daytime attack with incredible intelligence to target the leadership and a strike on the compound possibly costing tens of millions," Chell said.

WORLD LEADERS SPLIT OVER MILITARY ACTION AS US-ISRAEL STRIKE IRAN IN COORDINATED OPERATION

"That would likely have included expensive, precision-strike drones or manned aircraft in highly coordinated attacks to ensure success, not necessarily the lower-cost, one-way version of the suicide drones," he explained.

"The U.S. has this lower-cost alternative to hit everything at once, but then the very expensive, high-precision assets would likely have gone directly after leadership on Saturday," Chell added.

A senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that the compound strike was a "wildly bold daytime attack."

"It caught the senior leadership off guard, on a Saturday morning during Ramadan and on Shabbat in the daytime," the official added. 

"We hit the senior leaders right out of the gate," the source told Fox National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin.

AYATOLLAH'S ARSENAL VS. AMERICAN FIREPOWER: IRAN'S TOP 4 THREATS AND HOW WE FIGHT BACK

Iran’s military, government and intelligence sites were targeted, an official briefed on the operation also told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

A handful of top Iranian leaders were killed, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

President Donald Trump also announced Saturday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strike.

"If drones were involved in that top target attack, it would have been the very sophisticated MQ-type or Global Hawk-type drones," Chell said.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said other attacks across the country were being done "to remove threats."

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, those targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.

IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES

Chell described how those secondary targets would have been hit by the U.S. with the cheaper one-way "kamikaze" drones before adding that the strikes "seemed to be an excellent example of mass overwhelm at a new level."

Chell suggested Iran’s defenses were likely degraded well before the strike began because of the coordination.

"I think likely the defense systems, communication systems, were overwhelmingly compromised," he added. "And so I think they just overwhelmed them," he said.

"I’m sure there would have been days, if not even weeks, of work and preparation to take out those defense communication systems," he said.

"They would have compromised those defense communications in some way through electronic warfare or cyberattack."

"The battlefield now is so multidimensional," Chell emphasized.

"It’s about cyber warfare, misinformation and electronic warfare as well."

"This was seemingly so swift because it was incredibly well-planned and coordinated by the U.S. and Israel on a massive level that’s not been seen before," he added.

The Israeli military on Saturday said it had killed dozens of members of Iran’s leadership during sweeping, coordinated strikes in Iran, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted a number of locations across Tehran "in which senior officials of the Iranian defense establishment had gathered."

More than 40 senior Iranian security and regime figures were eliminated in the strikes, a senior Israeli security official told Fox News.

It was one of the largest regime "decapitation operations" conducted in modern warfare history, the official added. Israeli intelligence managed to infiltrate the Iranian security echelon, making the strikes possible, the official explained.

IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES

Among those killed, according to the IDF, were Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Iranian Security Council who was also a personal advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader.

Mohammad Pakpour, who was also killed, had been commander of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps since Operation ‘Rising Lion’ and was one of the leaders of the "destruction of Israel" plan, the IDF said.

Saleh Asadi, who headed up the Intelligence Directorate of the Khatam al-Anbiya emergency command, Mohammad Shirazi, head of the Military Bureau of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei since 1989, Iran’s Defense Minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, Hossein Jabal Amelian, who chaired an organization that advanced projects related to nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and Reza Mozaffari-Nia, who previously chaired the same organization, were also killed, according to the IDF.

IF KHAMENEI FALLS, WHO TAKES IRAN? STRIKES WILL EXPOSE POWER VACUUM — AND THE IRGC’S GRIP

President Donald Trump also confirmed Saturday that Khamenei was killed in the strikes. 

"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS."

The leaders had all been meeting at a compound in Tehran on Saturday morning.

The strikes were moved up due to the "target of opportunity," multiple sources told Fox News, which is why the strikes happened in the daytime in Iran, keeping the element of surprise. "There was a deliberate decision to accelerate the timeline," one source said.

"This was a massive, wildly bold daytime attack," a senior US defense official told Fox News."It caught the senior leadership off guard, a Saturday morning during Ramadan and on Shabbat in the daytime."

"We hit the senior leaders right out of the gate," the source added.

Iran’s militant and unyielding supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for more than three decades and oversaw an era of harsh internal repression and confrontation with the United States and Israel, has died following the Israeli strike in Tehran, as his compound was reduced to rubble, a senior Israeli official told Fox News Digital.

"Khamenei was the contemporary Middle East’s longest-serving autocrat. He did not get to be that way by being a gambler. Khamenei was an ideologue, but one who ruthlessly pursued the preservation and protection of his ideology, often taking two steps forward and one step back," Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital. 

"Khamenei’s worldview was shaped by his militant anti-Americanism and antisemitism, which first manifested itself in his protests against the Shah of Iran," he added.

LEAKED DOCUMENTS EXPOSE KHAMENEI'S SECRET DEADLY BLUEPRINT FOR CRUSHING IRAN PROTESTS

Born April 19, 1939, in Mashhad, eastern Iran, Khamenei was among the Islamist activists who played a central role in the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. A close ally of Iran’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei rose through the new system and served as president from 1981 to 1989 before becoming supreme leader after Khomeini’s death that same year.

Decades in power, Khamenei consolidated control over Iran’s political and security system, presiding over repeated crackdowns on dissent and maintaining a hardline posture toward Washington and Jerusalem.

"Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule has been marked by unrelenting brutality and repression, both within Iran and beyond its borders," said Lisa Daftari, an expert on Iran and editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk. She pointed to executions and the enforcement of strict social controls as defining features of the system under Khamenei’s leadership.

His ultra-conservative style of leadership did face challenges, however. In 2009, following disputed elections in which Khamenei declared victory for the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, massive protests erupted across the country.

TRUMP TELLS IRANIANS THE 'HOUR OF YOUR FREEDOM IS AT HAND' AS US-ISRAEL LAUNCH STRIKES AGAINST IRAN

Mass demonstrations also broke out in 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died while detained by the morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. The protests were brutally put down, with many of those arrested and put to death by his regime.

In late December, Iran was again rocked by protests and a fierce brutal security response. According to an Iran International investigation, as many as 30,000 people may have been killed across two days, Jan. 8 to 9, 2026.

International monitors and rights groups have repeatedly documented high execution numbers in Iran in recent years as well. Amnesty International said Iranian authorities executed more than 1,000 people in 2025, calling it the highest yearly figure the organization recorded in at least 15 years. Separately, a U.N. report said Iran executed at least 975 people in 2024, the highest number since 2015.

WORLD LEADERS SPLIT OVER MILITARY ACTION AS US-ISRAEL STRIKE IRAN IN COORDINATED OPERATION

Across the region, Khamenei invested heavily in Iran’s network of allied militias and armed groups, a strategy used to project Iranian power beyond its borders. From the West Bank and Gaza, where he backed terror groups such as Hamas, to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi extremists in Yemen, as well as other militant militias in Iraq, Iran under Khamenei’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the terror groups.

However, his prized proxies, as well as the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, collapsed under Israeli military pressure following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. During a 12-day war in June 2025, Israel also succeeded in taking out some of Khamenei’s closest aides and senior security figures, leaving the long-serving leader significantly weakened.

Yet analysts argue that Khamenei’s most enduring legacy may be the institutional machinery he built at home to safeguard the system.

GULF STATES CONDEMN IRANIAN RETALIATORY STRIKES ON THEIR TERRITORIES FOLLOWING US-ISRAELI OPERATION

A recent report by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), authored by Saeid Golkar and Kasra Aarabi, describes the Bayt, the Office of the Supreme Leader, as a parallel structure embedded across Iran’s military, economy, religious institutions and bureaucracy.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Aarabi said, "It is the hidden nerve center of the regime in Iran… it operates as a state within a state." He argued that even Khamenei’s removal would not necessarily dismantle the system. "Even if he is eliminated, the Bayt as an institution enables the Supreme Leader to function," Aarabi said, adding, "Think of the Supreme Leader as an institution rather than just a single individual."

Aarabi also warned that "eliminating Khamenei in isolation on its own is not enough," calling for a broader strategy aimed at the wider apparatus surrounding the supreme leader. "You have to dismantle this extensive apparatus that he has created," he said.

"Unlike Khomeini, the founding father of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei institutionalized his power. Today, the Islamic Republic is more a product of Khamenei than Khomeini," FDD’s Ben Taleblu added.

Four people were injured in a hotel fire in Palm Jumeirah area of Dubai after a loud explosion was reportedly heard as the Iranian regime launched retaliatory strikes in the Middle East.

The Dubai Media Office, a government entity, said in a statement Saturday that the site was secured and the fire had been contained.

"The safety and wellbeing of residents and visitors remain the highest priority. Authorities continue to take all necessary measures to safeguard the public. The public is urged to remain calm, rely solely on verified information from official sources, and refrain from circulating videos or images on social media," the media office wrote on X.

Dubai authorities confirmed that "an incident" occurred in a building in the Palm Jumeirah area and emergency response teams responded, although they did not elaborate on what caused the incident.

TOMAHAWKS SPEARHEADED US STRIKE ON IRAN -- WHY PRESIDENTS REACH FOR THIS MISSILE FIRST

Reports suggest United Arab Emirates forces intercepted an Iranian air attack in retaliation for U.S. forces conducting Operation Epic Fury against Iran.

Iran's retaliation against the U.S. and Israel's attacks has been focused on Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East. Explosions have reportedly been heard in several countries hosting U.S. forces, including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.

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Many Gulf states condemned Iran's retaliatory strikes on their territories and affirmed solidarity with their neighbors in the region.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry said it reserves its "full right" to defend itself after what it described as Iranian aggression targeting Qatari territory, while Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry warned of "grave consequences resulting from the continued violation of states’ sovereignty and the principles of international law."

The United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Defense said the country "was subjected to a blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles," adding that air defense systems "successfully intercepted a number of missiles." It stated the UAE "reserves its full right to respond."

As the smoke was still clearing over Tehran, one question dominated the region and Washington alike: Did they get him?

In the immediate aftermath of the Israel-U.S. strikes, with the Israeli Air Force targeting senior Iranian leadership infrastructure, rumors swirled that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 86-year-old supreme leader, had been killed.

Satellite images showed heavy damage to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fortified compound, including buildings believed to house his residence and the so-called House of Leadership. Parts of the complex appeared reduced to rubble.

Regional reports indicated a high-level meeting of Khamenei’s top lieutenants may have been underway when the strike hit. Iranian semi-official media also reported missiles struck near the presidential palace and other leadership sites north of the capital.

HISTORIC US-ISRAEL STRIKES ON IRAN UNDERWAY AS TEHRAN FACES REGIME SURVIVAL TEST

Addressing the nation on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Hebrew, "There are more and more signs indicating Khamenei is gone."

Israeli officials told Fox News Digital they were still assessing the results and said it was too early to confirm the fate of the 86-year-old supreme leader. They did not rule out the possibility that he was killed.

Iranian officials, however, insisted the country’s leadership — including Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian — remained safe, according to The Guardian, despite what they described as an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the BBC that he was not in a position to confirm whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been eliminated.

IRAN FIRES MISSILES AT US BASES ACROSS MIDDLE EAST AFTER AMERICAN STRIKES ON NUCLEAR, IRGC SITES

The long-serving cleric has survived decades of internal unrest, assassination plots and foreign pressure. He rarely appears in public without layers of security and is believed to operate through a tightly controlled network of loyalists embedded across Iran’s military, intelligence and political institutions.

In an exclusive Fox News Digital report earlier this week, researchers described how Khamenei runs what amounts to a parallel state within Iran’s formal government structure.

"The Bayt is the hidden nerve center of the regime in Iran… it operates as a state within a state," Kasra Aarabi, director of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital.

IRAN COULD ‘ACTIVATE’ HEZBOLLAH IF US TARGETS REGIME, TRUMP’S INNER CIRCLE TO DECIDE: EXPERT

Even if Khamenei himself were removed, Aarabi warned, the institutional machinery he built — involving roughly 4,000 core staff and a broader network of tens of thousands — could continue functioning.

"Even if he is eliminated, the Bayt as an institution enables the Supreme Leader to function," Aarabi said. "Think of the Supreme Leader as an institution rather than just a single individual."

That reality complicates the picture.

For decades, Khamenei has positioned himself not merely as a political leader but as the apex of a system designed to survive shocks — whether from protests at home or military pressure abroad.

The 86-year-old cleric has faced repeated waves of unrest, including mass protests in 2009, 2022 and again in early 2026. Each time, his regime cracked down forcefully, consolidating control rather than fracturing.

He has also weathered years of covert operations, cyber campaigns and targeted strikes against key Iranian figures across the region.

Still, the scale of the latest strike appears unprecedented.

If confirmed dead, Khamenei’s killing would mark the most significant decapitation of Iranian leadership since the 1979 revolution. It would also raise immediate questions about succession inside a system he carefully engineered to avoid sudden collapse.

If he survived, it would reinforce his reputation for resilience — and underscore how difficult it is to eliminate the core of Iran’s power structure.

For now, officials say assessments are ongoing, and the question may be answered in the very near future.

Israel pummeled Iranian targets with simultaneous airstrikes from roughly 200 fighter jets in what the Israeli military dubbed its largest ever military flyover in its history.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday published video of its airstrike on missile launchers in western Iran as Israel and the U.S. take part in a joint effort against Tehran.

The IDF said the fighter jets flew under the direction of IDF intelligence and the Israeli Air Force and executed an "extensive attack" against the Iranian regime's missile and defense systems in western and central Iran.

"This is the largest military flyover in the history of the Israeli Air Force (IAF), conducted following accurate planning and based on high-quality intelligence, while synchronizing hundreds of fighter jets at the same time," the IDF said.

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Fighter jets dropped hundreds of munitions on about 500 targets, including aerial defense systems and missile launchers, attaining air superiority over Iran and severely degrading its offensive capabilities.

"The military flyover thwarted numerous threats to the IAF's fighter jets and to Israeli civilians," the IDF said, adding that the IAF continues to operate in Iran.

WATCH MORE ISRAELI STRIKES ON IRANIAN TARGETS:

Israel announced it had launched an attack on Iran shortly after explosions were heard in Tehran on Saturday morning. One of the first strikes hit near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It wasn't immediately clear where Khamenei was at the time; he hadn't been seen for days.

HISTORIC US-ISRAEL STRIKES ON IRAN UNDERWAY AS TEHRAN FACES REGIME SURVIVAL TEST

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the attacks that took part across the country as being done "to remove threats."

Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence sites were targeted, according to an official briefed on the operation, told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information.

President Donald Trump said the joint effort was a massive operation to destroy the country’s military capabilities and eliminate the threat of it creating a nuclear weapon.

World leaders were split over the U.S.-Israeli military operation.

Iran launched retaliatory strikes against U.S. bases in neighboring countries throughout the Gulf, prompting many Arab countries to condemn the regime’s strikes.

Fox News Digital's Rachel Wolf, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has built a coalition of largely Shiite terrorist proxies — the axis of resistance — that is set to join Tehran in counterstrikes in response to the joint U.S.-Israel preventive attacks on Iran’s military installations and leadership.

The most dangerous of Iran’s allies is its main strategic partner, which is Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah. Israel’s army had been intensely targeting Hezbollah positions ahead of the U.S. campaign, Operation Epic Fury.

WORLD LEADERS SPLIT OVER MILITARY ACTION AS US-ISRAEL STRIKE IRAN IN COORDINATED OPERATION

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is obligated to disarm Hezbollah, according to the Nov. 2024 ceasefire with Israel. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Effie Defrin, said on Friday that "In Lebanon, we continue to act daily against attempts by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rebuild and rearm."

He said, "An example of this is the strike we carried out yesterday in the Baalbek area, during which we targeted ammunition depots and eliminated terrorists from the Radwan Force. We will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its capabilities and pose a threat to Israeli civilians."

IF KHAMENEI FALLS, WHO TAKES IRAN? STRIKES WILL EXPOSE POWER VACUUM — AND THE IRGC’S GRIP

An official from Hezbollah said on Wednesday that the jihadi terrorist organization will not intervene militarily if the U.S. delivers "limited" strikes Iran. Yet the Hezbollah official said they regard any attack against Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a "red line."

According to the Israel-based Alma Research and Education Center (Alma),"Hezbollah fields a substantial combat force, estimated at around 40,000–50,000 active combatants and an additional 30,000–50,000 reservists. Central to its offensive structure is the Radwan Unit, which Hezbollah is making major efforts to rebuild and restore."

IDF Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, president and founder of Alma in northern Israel, told Fox News Digital, that the "Lebanese army is not putting much effort into disarming Hezbollah. The outcome of that is good intentions are just words. As a resident of the north, I have not seen any systematic disarmament."

Edy Cohen, a Lebanese-born Israeli scholar of Hezbollah, told Fox News Digital the "Lebanese population does not see Hezbollah as resistance" because Hezbollah lost its recent war against Israel. He said Hezbollah failed in its efforts to aid Hamas in Gaza to defeat Israel after its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of the Jewish state.

The second Iranian-backed proxy is the Shiite militia movement in Iraq. Entifadh Qanbar, a former spokesman for the deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, told Fox News Digital he believes the Shiite militia will join Iran in the war: "Many second-tier Shia leaders, militia lords, as I like to call them, harbor ambitions to rise and challenge the aging top-tier top leadership. They have accumulated enormous wealth, and the only way they can compete with the old guard is by proving to Iran that they are bold, reckless and ready to fight in defense of Tehran."

He added, "Their ambitions have blinded their rational thinking. These are militia terrorists with little understanding of the outside world, yet they are dangerously overconfident. They are loose cannons, completely out of control and Iran is prepared to throw them into the fire because they are expendable. That is why you see Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq issuing threats, while older, more established militias like Hezbollah Lebanon have made it clear they will not participate."

The pro-Iran Iraqi militia accuses the U.S. of bombing it and pledged a retaliatory response on Saturday. Kataeb Hezbollah said the U.S. is responsible for a strike that targeted an Iraqi military base that houses the Iranian proxy militia. The Iraqi terrorist group says it will "soon start assaulting American bases in response to their attacks."

The third part of the axis of resistance is the Houthi movement in Yemen.

The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have decided to resume missile and drone attacks on shipping routes and on Israel in support of Iran, according to two senior Houthi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because there is no official announcement from the Houthi leadership, according to the Associated Press.

One of the officials said the rebels’ first attack could come as soon as "tonight." Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip is also part of the axis of resistance and Hamas and Iran are also partners in their campaigns to destroy the Jewish state.

THE Associated Press contributed to this report.

Arab nations are sounding off against Iran after the regime launched strikes against U.S. interests in neighboring countries in the region in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli joint strikes against Iran’s leaders.

The Iranian response targeted all U.S. bases in the Gulf, except for U.S. bases in Oman, Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reported, since the Omani foreign minister had tried to mediate the nuclear talks in Geneva, even flying to Washington, D.C., to meet Vice President JD Vance at the White House on Friday to try to avert what is quickly turning into a regional war.

Griffin reported that approximately 40 missiles had landed in Israel. Meanwhile, the U.S. military in Iraq intercepted at least one missile targeting U.S. facilities. Additionally, Iran appeared to hit the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, but no casualties were reported.

Iran also launched missiles at Saudi Arabia and Jordan, where the U.S. has squadrons of advanced fighter jets, Griffin reported.

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Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates were among the Gulf states that condemned the Iranian strikes, with many saying they reserve the right to defend themselves and respond accordingly to attacks on their sovereign territories.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it reserves its "full right" to defend itself after what it described as Iranian aggression targeting Qatari territory. Its Defense Ministry said it "successfully thwarted a number of attacks targeting the country’s territory" after multiple rounds of alerts sounded. Authorities reported no immediate injuries or damage in residential areas.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said it affirmed "its full solidarity with and unwavering support for the brotherly countries" and warned of "grave consequences resulting from the continued violation of states' sovereignty and the principles of international law."

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The United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Defense said the country "was subjected to a blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles," adding that air defense systems "successfully intercepted a number of missiles." Authorities said falling debris in a residential area caused "one civilian death of an Asian nationality" and material damage.

The ministry called the attack "a dangerous escalation and a cowardly act that threatens the safety of civilians and undermines stability," and stated the UAE "reserves its full right to respond."

Jordan's foreign minister wrote a series of posts on X, saying that King Abdullah II "condemns the attack on the territories of Jordan, and any attacks on Arab countries," expressing Jordan’s "solidarity with the brotherly Arab countries in confronting any aggressions that affect their sovereignty, security, and stability."

Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it also "strongly condemns the Iranian attacks," adding that it "affirms its full solidarity with these fellow Arab States and firmly rejects any violation of their sovereignty, any threat to their security, or any action undermining their stability."

Meanwhile, the Omani Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses the Sultanate of Oman's profound regret over the military operations launched by Israel and the United States of America against the Islamic Republic of Iran, warning of the danger of the conflict expanding into consequences that cannot be rectified in the region," the Omani Foreign Ministry said in a statement, according to X's translation.

"The Sultanate of Oman considers this action to be in contravention of the rules of international law and the principle of resolving issues through peaceful means rather than hostile means, the shedding of blood, and calls on all parties to immediately suspend military operations, while urging the United Nations Security Council to convene an urgent meeting to impose a ceasefire and for the international community to take a clear stance in support of international law," it added.

Fox News Digital's Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, described the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on the country as promised "aid" and an act of "humanitarian intervention" by President Donald Trump.

Following the reported strikes, Pahlavi urged Iranians to abandon the regime and called on security forces to defect.

"Moments of destiny lie ahead of us," Pahlavi wrote in a statement on social media. "Even with the arrival of this aid, the final victory will still be forged by our hands. It is we, the people of Iran, who will finish the job in this final battle. The time to return to the streets is near."

Pahlavi declared that the Islamic Republic is collapsing.

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He framed the reported strikes as assistance directed not at Iran itself, but at its ruling clerical establishment and urged the U.S. to "exercise the utmost caution" to preserve civilian lives.

"The aid that the President of the United States promised to the brave people of Iran has now arrived," Pahlavi wrote. "This is a humanitarian intervention; and its target is the Islamic Republic, its repressive apparatus, and its machinery of slaughter — not the country and great nation of Iran."

Pahlavi issued a blunt warning to Iran’s military, police and security services, urging them to break ranks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Now that the Islamic Republic is collapsing, my message to the country's military, police, and security forces is clear: You have sworn an oath to protect Iran and the Iranian people — not the Islamic Republic and its leaders," he wrote.

ISRAEL LAUNCHES PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST IRAN, DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS

"Your duty is to defend the people, not a regime that has taken our homeland hostage through repression and crime. Join the people and help bring about a stable and secure transition. Otherwise, you will go down with Khamenei's sinking ship and his regime."

His appeal mirrored past opposition efforts to persuade Iran’s security forces to switch sides — a move that could determine whether protests spread or the regime tightens its grip.

While predicting imminent change, Pahlavi stopped short of urging immediate street demonstrations. He warned citizens to remain in their homes and stay vigilant so that when he announces an "appropriate time," Iranians can "return to the streets for the final action."

"We are very close to final victory," he wrote. "I want to be by your side as soon as possible so that together we can take back and rebuild Iran."

He also indicated he would maintain communication even if authorities moved to restrict internet or satellite access — a tactic Iranian officials have used during prior waves of unrest.

Pahlavi thanked Trump for what he characterized as support while again urging caution to avoid civilian casualties.

"I now ask you to exercise the utmost caution to preserve the lives of civilians and my compatriots," he wrote, adding that "the people of Iran are your natural allies and those of the free world."

Pahlavi, the son of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, has lived in exile since the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled Iran’s monarchy and established the Islamic Republic.

In recent years, he has sought to position himself as a unifying opposition figure during waves of anti-regime protests, including demonstrations sparked by economic turmoil and the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022.