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Covering global conflict is my job as The Daily Wire\u2019s foreign affairs correspondent. But from Friday at sundown until Saturday night \u2014 roughly 25 hours each week \u2014 I step away <\/span>completely. I\u2019m an <\/span>Orthodox Jew<\/span>, and each week on Shabbat, I don\u2019t use any electricity, including my phone.<\/span><\/p>\n At sundown tonight,<\/span> I logged on to <\/span>find <\/span>a very different reality in the Middle East<\/span> than I left<\/span>. <\/span>If you\u2019ve been following The Daily Wire\u2019s coverage all day, you know that, early this morning, the United States and Israel struck Iran. But if you need a refresher, here <\/span>are the 7<\/span> updates that got me up to speed.<\/span><\/p>\n Precision munitions rained down from land, air, and sea in the opening hours, hitting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control centers, Iranian air defenses, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields. According to U.S. Central Command, the strikes began at 1:15 a.m. ET, and CENTCOM called Operation Epic Fury the largest regional concentration of American military firepower in a generation.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei Is Dead<\/b> Precision U.S. and Israeli strikes hit the Supreme Leader\u2019s compound in the opening hours of the operation, killing Iran\u2019s top ruler. He was 86, had led the country since 1989, and was only the second person to hold the post of supreme leader since the 1979 Iranian Revolution that brought a radical clerical regime to power. Israel\u2019s Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Donald Trump were shown images of Khamenei\u2019s body after it was recovered.<\/span><\/p>\n President Trump called Khamenei <\/span>\u201cone of the most evil people in history\u201d<\/span> and said his death delivered justice for the people of Iran, for all great Americans, and for those around the world who suffered under him and his \u201cgang of bloodthirsty thugs.\u201d Khamenei had ruled tyrannically for decades, overseeing widespread oppression, including the violent crackdown on protesters that left an estimated 32,000 dead in January.<\/span><\/p>\n Trump added that the Supreme Leader could not evade the strike \u2014 despite any efforts to hide, highly sophisticated tracking systems, coordinated between the U.S. and Israel, made it impossible for him to escape.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Iranians Encouraged To Take Fate Into Their Own Hands<\/b><\/p>\n After Khamenei was killed, President Trump called this <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,\u201d<\/span> a moment that some Iranians appear to be marking with hope. Videos circulating on social media show cheers across Iran Saturday night following reports of the Supreme Leader\u2019s death, including in <\/span>Tehran<\/span><\/a>, and videos emerging from <\/span>London<\/span><\/a> show members of the Iranian diaspora joining in the celebrations.<\/span><\/p>\n Trump added that many members of the IRGC, military, and other security forces reportedly no longer want to fight and are seeking immunity. He expressed hope that the IRGC and police could peacefully merge with Iranian patriots, working together to restore the country to what he described as its deserved greatness.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Iran\u2019s Retaliatory Strikes Across the Middle East<\/b><\/p>\n In retaliation following Khamenei\u2019s death, Iran has launched missile and drone attacks across the regi<\/span>on:<\/span><\/p>\n 5. The U.S. and Israel Are Operating in Full Coordination<\/b><\/p>\n The strikes on Iran were part of a coordinated military campaign between the United States and Israel. Strategic analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) note that the United States designated its part of the operation \u201cOperation Epic Fury,\u201d while Israel called its portion \u201cOperation Lion\u2019s Roar,\u201d reflecting a division of labor that plays to each side\u2019s strengths: Israel focusing on regime leadership and intelligence targets, and the United States using its superior firepower to strike missile silos and major military sites.<\/span><\/p>\n The level of coordination was clear in advance. In the days leading up to the strikes, American refueling tankers were stationed at Ben Gurion Airport, while combat fighter jets were on the runway in Israel for offensive operations for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 6. Top Iranian Officials Reportedly Killed<\/b> \u00a0<\/p>\n 7. Trump Says Bombing Will Continue<\/b><\/p>\n President Trump warned that the air campaign in Iran isn\u2019t ending anytime soon, saying heavy and precise strikes will keep going \u201cthroughout the week or as long as necessary\u201d to achieve what he described as peace across the Middle East and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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<\/b>In addition to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Israel claims several high-ranking Iranian figures were killed in the strikes, including:<\/span><\/p>\n\n