As the US-Israeli war on Iran continues, leaving whole Middle East into never-seen-before crisis, many stories are unfolding which are reported across the media globally. According to the reports published in a cross section of media across the globe, the strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the 86-year-old Supreme Leader of Iran, was carried out using a powerful air-launched missile known as the Blue Sparrow. It’s a missile capable of travelling to the edge of space before plunging back toward Earth at extremely high speed.
The reports reveal that the missile was fired during a coordinated Israeli operation targeting senior Iranian leadership inside Tehran, striking Khamenei’s heavily guarded compound on Pasteur Street where several top officials had gathered for a meeting.
Iranian state media confirmed the supreme leader’s death the following morning.
Giving the description of the Blue Sparrow missile, the reports state that it follows a quasi-ballistic trajectory, meaning it climbs high above the Earth’s atmosphere before descending steeply toward its target.
Originally developed as part of Israel’s Sparrow missile family – which also includes the Black Sparrow and Silver Sparrow systems – the weapon was designed to simulate Soviet-era Scud missiles during missile defence tests.Over time, the missile was adapted for operational strike missions.
Measuring roughly 6.5 metres in length and weighing about 1.9 tonnes, the missile can travel approximately 1,240 miles (around 2,000 kilometres) and is typically launched from fighter aircraft such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.
After launch, a booster rocket propels the missile toward the edge of space before it separates and re-enters the atmosphere at high speed, descending onto its target.
The steep trajectory significantly reduces the reaction time for air defence systems, making interception extremely difficult and allowing the weapon to strike heavily protected targets with little warning.
The strike formed part of a broader Israeli campaign known as Operation Epic Fury, which targeted key Iranian military and political leadership positions.
Israeli fighter aircraft took off shortly after 7.30am Iran time and reached launch positions roughly two hours later.
At about 9.40am, around 30 precision-guided munitions, including several Blue Sparrow missiles, were fired toward Khamenei’s compound and nearby facilities.
Videos circulating on social media showed thick smoke rising from multiple locations across Tehran, including the supreme leader’s residence.
Satellite imagery later suggested that several buildings inside the complex had been severely damaged.
Notably, as revealed in various reports picked by media outlets, the strike was the culmination of a long-running intelligence effort by Israel’s spy agency Mossad and cyber-intelligence unit Unit 8200.
Israeli intelligence agencies reportedly spent years tracking the movements of Khamenei’s security detail and mapping activity around the compound.
The surveillance operation included hacking traffic cameras and monitoring communication networks across Tehran, allowing analysts to develop what intelligence officials describe as a detailed “pattern of life” of the Iranian leadership.
The final decision to strike came after intelligence indicated that several top Iranian officials would attend an in-person meeting with Khamenei on the morning when the missile hit his office.
Khamenei had reportedly been spending most nights in a deep underground bunker beneath his residence, which Iranian officials believed would shield him from air strikes.
Israeli planners therefore waited for a rare moment when the supreme leader and his senior commanders were gathered above ground.
Shortly before the attack, Israeli cyber units reportedly disrupted mobile phone networks around the compound to prevent warnings from reaching security personnel.
When the missiles struck, Iranian officials were reportedly gathered for a morning meeting.
Along with Khamenei, several senior figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other military leadership were killed in the attack.
According to some reports, members of the supreme leader’s family who were present during the meeting were among those killed.
(Sources: Multiple News Agency Reports)
Understanding Israel-US War on Iran
The US-Israeli strikes on Iranhas put the Middle East into deep crisis. It is threatening millions of people’s lives and livelihoods as the violence spreads in widening arc stretching from central Asia to the edge of Europe. Iran’s retaliation has already created geopolitical and economic chaos. It has effectively closed the strait of Hormuz, choking global oil supplies, and its missiles and drones have also forced significant cut in air travel globally. Here TIMES LINK reproduces the excerpts of the Guardian’s analysis about the background and objectives of this ongoing war and also Iran’s capability to remain afloat in fighting this war.
Background to this war
For decades, the regional powerhouse Iran, which views Israel and the US as its arch-enemies, has sought to spread its influence across the Middle East by backing militant groups, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. It has developed a nuclear programme that it claims is for civil purposes. Washington disputes this and was in negotiations to limit Tehran’s nuclear ambitions up until the day, when it abandoned them and started bombing.
Israel’s longstanding regional policy – particularly towards Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Gaza, Yemen and Syria – has been to keep enemy forces “weak” through the regular use of overwhelming and destructive military power, including assassinations. The result has been the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, an abandonment of diplomacy and the hardening of global hatred against Israel. Senior figures in armed factions that Israel has killed are usually quickly replaced by deputies, while militant groups Israel has targeted have either rebuilt or been replaced by others.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been urging the US to seriously consider an attack on Iran for years and dismissed international agreements to put limits on Tehran’s nuclear programme. Successive administrations in Washington have held back from this belligerent stance, with diplomats and Middle Eastern governments warning that – as well as being a blunt and ineffective tool to destroy a nuclear programme – a bombing campaign on Iran would engulf the region. This is exactly what is playing out now.
As Donald Trump has said, no other US president “was willing to do what I was willing to do”.
Objectives of Israel and the US
Various explanations have been given, including: combating generalised threats from Iran and its proxies; destroying Tehran’s nuclear programme (despite Trump claiming he had already “obliterated” it with strikes last summer); and an attempt at regime change by bombing it from the air. On Friday, Trump said he wanted an “unconditional surrender”.
Some in US Christian evangelical circles see the bombing as part of a holy war that will lead to Armageddon – something they crave as they believe it will precipitate the return of Jesus Christ.
Hours after the first strikes, Trump said the “objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime”. Netanyahu has said that removing Iran’s missile and nuclear threat was his objective, but that he also welcomed the “overthrow of the regime” if that is an outcome.
One striking goal that is starting to emerge is that the US and Israel have encouraged anti-government groups inside and outside Iran, including Kurdish militants, to rise up and fight. If successful, that strategy could lead to an unpredictable civil war.
How long can Iran afford to fight back for?
Iran’s conventional military is not comparable to that of the US and Israel, and it has a limited supply of missiles and drones. But the state has a long history of using asymmetric warfare, in which outmatched forces can conduct painful attacks against big military powers through paramilitary groups.
In launching attacks into multiple neighbouring countries, Tehran’s retaliation has already created geopolitical and economic chaos. It has effectively closed the strait of Hormuz, which has choked global oil supplies, and its missiles and drones have cut world air travel.
(Courtesy: The Guardian)
