Iran’s leadership didn’t see the morning strike coming.
On Saturday morning, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei —who typically went down into his bunkers at night when the regime believed Israeli attacks were likely to take place—was above ground at his residence.
The unexpected daylight attack, Operation Genesis, killed Khamenei and was the opening blow in Israel and the U.S.’s war with Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reconstructed the operation through interviews with current and former Israeli and U.S. officials, as well as satellite imagery, videos and photos..
Satellite image: Airbus/Google Earth. Videos and photos: X, YouTube and Instagram. Graphic: Juanje Gómez/WSJ
Takeoff
Israeli F-15 jets and other aircraft took off at around 7:30 a.m. Iran time to attack their country’s most carefully studied target. Khamenei had been in their sights before—but this time, they had the go-ahead to kill him.
For more than two decades, Unit 8200, a covert Israeli intelligence unit that specializes in phone intercepts and cyber operations, tracked Khamenei and Iran’s top leadership , mapping their daily routines and habits. Analysts monitored senior officials’ communications, increasingly relying on artificial intelligence to sift through a massive volume of intercepted calls.
Israel recruited spies and hacked into traffic cameras across the Iranian capital for real-time information, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Central Intelligence Agency shared information with Israel.
On Saturday, they learned of meetings among senior leaders and that Khamenei would be at his residence that morning with members of his family, according to people familiar with the operation and an Israeli security official.
To maintain the element of surprise, they would have to kill Khamenei with the first shots of the war, even before they disabled Iranian air defenses. If he escaped the attack, Israel feared he would be moved to a secure location beyond reach.
The strikes start
At about 9:40 a.m., dozens of Israeli munitions fired from F-15 jet fighters, including Blue Sparrow missiles, began hitting their targets. The missiles were launched from a distance: Sparrows exit the earth’s atmosphere before crashing down. Their high trajectory surprised people in the Iranian leadership compound in Tehran, people briefed on the operation said.
The precision air-to-surface missiles successfully struck multiple high-level gatherings in the compound.
At around 9:45 a.m. local time, people across Tehran were watching smoke billow from the leader’s compound.
A satellite image shows an overview of the Presidential Complex and the compound of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, March 3, 2026, after airstrikes amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. Vantor/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO. IMAGE IN BLACK AND WHITE FROM SOURCE.
The Journal geolocated a dozen videos—posted on social media—from around the city in the immediate aftermath of the strike.
After the killing of Khamenei, both the U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran’s air defenses and other military infrastructure. The U.S. Navy launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and Himars rockets, conducting strikes across southern Iran and taking out Iranian Navy ships—hitting more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours.
Israel sent in 200 jet fighters, nearly the country’s entire air force. They soon struck 500 different targets, including radar and detection arrays, air-defense batteries, command centers, surface-to-surface missile systems and leadership.
The aftermath
At 5:47 p.m., a satellite image captured smoldering damage at the compound, which includes a vast mosque, a presidential complex and the Iranian leader’s residence.
The strike damaged at least six buildings, including metal roofs and structures running between buildings, according to satellite images analyzed by the Journal.
Khamenei was above ground at his residence with his family during the strikes. Satellite imagery shows that area sustained the most visible damage.
The strikes also killed top officials —including Khamenei adviser Ali Shamkhani , Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Deputy Intelligence Minister Sayed Yahya Hamidi, head of espionage Jalal Pour Hossein and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour, according to an Israeli security official.
By nightfall, videos show public gatherings across Tehran, Karaj and Isfahan, where thousands of Iranians celebrate or mourn Khamenei’s killing.
Protesters supporting Iraqi Shi’ite armed groups stand amid tear gas as they attempt to move toward the U.S. embassy located in Baghdad’s Green Zone, as riot police deploy to block their advance, following the Israel and U.S. strikes on Iran and the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
People gather to mourn after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, March 1, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY
Top Iranian officials—President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i and an appointee from Iran’s 12-member Guardian Council—formed a temporary three-person council to govern the country.
Write to Anat Peled at anat.peled@wsj.com , Dov Lieber at dov.lieber@wsj.com and Anika Arora Seth at anika.seth@wsj.com
