AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
The U.S. and Israel have launched a new wave of attacks against Iran today, and Israeli officials say they're striking sites in, quote, "the heart of Tehran." And Iran is firing back at targets in Israel and several Gulf states. President Trump has said one goal of his military campaign is to topple the Iranian government. This comes after a dramatic first day of fighting in which Iran's supreme leader was killed in an airstrike. We're going to be talking about the conflict throughout the show, and we begin with NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Welcome.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So Iran is now confirming that its supreme leader, the man who ruled the country for almost 37 years, is dead. Who's in charge of Iran today?
MYRE: So Iranian officials are saying that an interim committee will run the country until a permanent new leader is chosen. The Iranian media this morning reported that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed. President Trump and Israeli officials said this Saturday, and now Iran is acknowledging it. An Israeli airstrike killed him at his compound in Tehran at the very beginning of this massive operation on Saturday morning. The Israelis say they simultaneously hit three separate meetings of senior Iranian officials and killed other senior political and military figures. Israel is putting that number at around 40. Saturday morning is the beginning of the work week in Iran, and the leaders were meeting to deal with the crisis and clearly were not expecting a strike during daylight hours, thinking an attack would be more likely to come at night.
RASCOE: Can you tell us a bit about the legacy of the supreme leader?
MYRE: Yeah. Khamenei was one of the world's longest-serving rulers, the only one that many Iranians have known. He was 86 years old. He's led Iran since 1989. Iran has only had two supreme leaders since the revolution in 1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini, who led the revolution, and then Ayatollah Khamenei. Khamenei was a hard-liner, completely committed to the Islamic Revolution. He resisted calls for reforms right up to the very end. When the massive protests began at the end of December, he initially expressed just a bit of sympathy for Iranians dealing with severe economic hardship. But ultimately, the security forces carried out that brutal crackdown in January, killing thousands.
RASCOE: Well, who's potentially in line to replace him?
MYRE: Yeah. Ayesha, if these were normal times, Iran's assembly of experts would sit down and choose a new leader. These are 88 senior Islamic clerics. They chose Khamenei back in 1989, and they may eventually choose the next leader as well, but these aren't normal times. And the Iranian media is saying that in the short term, there'll be this three-person interim committee. It'll include the president, the head of the judiciary and another senior official. And given the current crisis, you'd expect the security forces to play a prominent role, and this would include probably the Revolutionary Guards, whose job is to ensure Islamic rule in Iran.
RASCOE: What's the latest on the fighting?
MYRE: Yeah. Israel's military says it launched this new wave of large-scale attacks, and as - we've heard these explosions ringing out in Tehran. Israel says the goal is to establish air superiority. And really, one of the most striking elements in this U.S.-Israel bombing campaign, both last June and again this time, has been how quickly they've crippled Iran's air defenses. Iran just has little or no ability to guard against the U.S. and Israeli warplanes and long-range missiles. Now, Iran is vowing massive retaliation for the killing of its supreme leader, and it does have stockpiles of missiles and drones. It fired hundreds on Saturday, shooting them, and then shooting them off again today, targeting Israel and these Gulf states. But the attacks haven't been very effective. There's been little or no damage to U.S. and Israeli military facilities. Some civilian casualties. One Israeli woman was killed in Tel Aviv, and one death reported in the United Arab Emirates.
RASCOE: Can you give us an update on what President Trump is saying about the conflict?
MYRE: Yeah. He took to Truth Social to respond to the latest Iranian threat, and he said in all caps, they'd better not do that, however, because if they do, they will be - we will hit them with a force that's never been seen before. Now, Trump has been at Mar-a-Lago this weekend. We'll be watching for signs of how long he wants the U.S. attacks to continue. Trump has called for destroying the remaining parts of Iran's nuclear program, the missile program, the navy. So that would take more time, and he's also called for the ouster of the Iranian government. Now, it's not yet clear if he considers the death of the supreme leader to be regime change or if he's expecting more sweeping changes.
RASCOE: Thank you. That's NPR's Greg Myre.
MYRE: Sure thing, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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