Before Khamenei Killing, CIA Assessed He Would Likely Be Replaced by More Hardline Elements of the IRGC

According to an unconfirmed report from Israel's Ynet, after killing Khamenei, President Trump sought a ceasefire, but the idea was rejected by Iran. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, says that leadership in Tehran now believes that if it agrees to a ceasefire without inflicting enough costs on the US, the US and Israel will just attack again in the future.

"Iran understands that many in the American security establishment had been convinced that Iran's past restraint reflected weakness and an inability or unwillingness to face the US in a direct war," Parsi wrote on X. "Tehran is now doing everything it can to demonstrate the opposite -- despite the massive cost it itself will pay. Ironically, the assassination of Khamenei facilitated this shift."