The "Morning Strike": NYT Reveals How CIA Intel Forced Rescheduling of Iran Attack to Ensure Khamenei’s Assassination

In a Sunday report, the New York Times detailed how the CIA’s meticulous tracking of Ali Khamenei led to the successful decapitation of Iran’s leadership. Originally planned as a nighttime raid, the joint U.S.-Israeli offensive was moved to Saturday morning after the CIA confirmed Khamenei would be attending a high-level meeting in a central Tehran complex.

This "intelligence-driven" adjustment allowed the allies to hit their primary target with surgical precision. Following the strike, the IRGC condemned the act as "criminal terrorism" and a violation of international norms, vowing a decisive and "deterrent" revenge. Iran has since entered a 40-day mourning period, with a 7-day national holiday declared as the nation grapples with the loss of its leader of 37 years.