US prepared for a night attack, but struck Iran in the morning. Here is what led to change of plans
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "US prepared for a night attack, but struck Iran in the morning. Here is what led to change of plans")
Iran US war: Khamenei was killed in the morning attack hours after fighter jets took off from Israel. Photograph: (AFP)
Donald Trump and Netanyahu decided to accelerate the timeline of the attack on Iran following CIA intelligence on Khamenei. While the operation was initially supposed to happen in the dead of night, jets took off early Saturday morning.
The CIA uncovered intelligence about a secret meeting involving Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that was to be held on Saturday (February 28), which led to Donald Trump launching "Operation Epic Fury." The New York Times reported that the agency and Israeli intelligence officials had been watching his movement for months, and learned that a group of senior Iranian officials were scheduled to meet the ayatollah at his palace on Saturday morning. This led to the US and Israel moving the attack up, catching the Islamic regime by surprise. The strike killed 86-year-old Ayatollah Khaemenei. The prior intelligence on his location is what primarily led the US and Israel to eliminate Khamenei, who ruled for almost four decades. His death has triggered a wider conflict with Tehran retaliating and hitting US bases in other Middle East countries. Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia have been hit by Iranian missiles and drones.
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US and Israel accelerated plans to attack Iran
According to reports, the US and Israeli governments had planned on launching the attack during the night. However, knowing that Khamenei and several other senior officials would gather at the palace in the morning, fighter jets armed with long-range missiles and precision munitions took off from military bases in Israel at 6 am. Missiles blasted into the palace a few hours later. At the time, the Iranian officials were in another part of the building. The US and Israel closely coordinated to hit Iran at the right time. The attack also took out Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani, the commander of the IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, two high-ranking military officers. Khamenei's daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed in the strikes.
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Tehran carried out retaliatory strikes, triggering chaos in the Middle East. Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed that they had struck USS Abraham Lincoln, a US aircraft carrier that had been stationed in the Arabian Sea. Pentagon denied that the warship was hit or endured any damage, although it said that missiles were fired, but none came close. Iran has been targeting the UAE, Qatar, Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah launched missiles towards Israel on Sunday, after which the Israeli Defence Forces struck Beirut in Lebanon to dismantle the terror group's infrastructure.
