In early 2026, a joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, beginning with surprise strikes on February 28 under Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, resulted in the targeted assassinations of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, multiple top IRGC commanders, and other senior officials, alongside widespread degradation of Iran's missile, naval, and command infrastructure. While initial Western reporting often framed elements of the operation as 'limited strikes' aimed at nuclear and missile sites, the cumulative effect reveals a starkly asymmetric conflict: Iranian leadership losses included the Supreme Leader himself along with IRGC Intelligence Chief Majid Khademi, Quds Force commanders, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, and IRGC head Mohammad Pakpour, representing a near-total disruption of centralized command. Reports indicate Iran lost over 90% of its missile launchers, more than 100 naval vessels, and faced over 90% interception rates on its retaliatory projectiles, with US strikes hitting more than 90 military targets on Kharg Island alone while preserving oil infrastructure. In contrast, US losses remained minimal with 15 soldiers killed and several hundred wounded, alongside limited damage to regional bases—figures that underscore a decisive advantage in precision targeting, air superiority, and intelligence that mainstream coverage has sometimes understated by focusing on ceasefires and negotiations rather than the scale of Iranian degradation. This one-sided reality aligns with broader patterns of modern decapitation warfare, where advanced standoff capabilities allow a technologically superior force to dismantle an opponent's hierarchy with minimal risk to its own leadership or bulk assets. The power vacuum led to Mojtaba Khamenei's selection as successor amid internal factionalism, ethnic tensions, and debates over secular alternatives like Reza Pahlavi, raising long-term questions about regime stability even after the April ceasefire. These outcomes contextualize fringe claims of near-total Iranian losses by grounding them in documented high-value target eliminations and capability erosion, connections often missed when analysis stops at 'limited' labels. Sources confirm the campaign's objectives extended beyond nuclear prevention to degrading proxies, annihilating naval assets, and inducing broader governmental disruption.