Wall Street Journal: Trump Warned That Eliminating Khamenei Could Lead to Radicalization in Iran
An investigation by the Wall Street Journal reveals that days before ordering the strike in Iran, US President Donald Trump received warnings from intelligence officials that eliminating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would not necessarily lead…
Assessment
The Wall Street Journal report reveals a sharp internal debate before a major U.S. strike on Iran. Intelligence officials warned President Trump that killing Supreme Leader Khamenei could backfire, producing a harderline successor who would race toward a nuclear weapon. The assessment challenges the assumption that decapitation strikes weaken adversaries. The key question now is whether the administration factored this warning into its final decision, and what intelligence it weighed against it.