Start Here The Ayatollah is Dead. What Now?
20 snips
Mar 2, 2026 
Colonel Stephen Ganyard, a former U.S. Marine and State Department official, offers military and strategic analysis. Jonathan Karl, ABC’s chief Washington correspondent, explains political calculations and messaging. Martha Raddatz, ABC’s global affairs correspondent, breaks down the strikes, counterattacks, regional impact, risks to U.S. forces, timing, and legal and political fallout.
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Life Under Omnipresent Supreme Leader
- Somaya Malekian recounted living most of her life in Iran under omnipresent imagery and control of the supreme leader.
- She described Khomeini then Khamenei's 37-year rule and how murals and portraits made the leader literally everywhere in daily life.
Operation Targeted Iran Leadership
- The U.S. and Israel conducted a massive, coordinated strike aimed beyond depots to decapitate Iran's leadership and hit 1,000 strategic targets.
- Martha Raddatz described tomahawks, cruise missiles and pinpoint strikes that killed the supreme leader and 40 senior figures within minutes.
Iran's Rapid Regional Retaliation
- Iran launched widespread counterattacks across the region using thousands of missiles and armed drones, hitting airports, hotels and U.S. bases.
- Martha Raddatz noted hits from Dubai to Kuwait and strikes that killed U.S. service members in Kuwait despite allied defenses.