Operation Epic Fury: Dismantling Iran's Infrastructure Across Key Zones of Interest of the Authoritarian Axis

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel conducted a coordinated strike against military bases, command centers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), nuclear facilities, and the residences of Tehran’s military-political leadership.

Within the first 12 hours of Operation “Epic Fury,” the elimination of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with more than 40 senior Iranian officials, generated an additional strategic effect: the disorganization of the upper echelon of power.

This development created more favorable conditions for potential regime change by intensifying the internal political instability that had been building in Iran since the mass protests of late 2025–early 2026.

The operation against Iran extends far beyond the Middle Eastern theater and should be understood as an element of the United States’ preventive strategy to avert a broader military confrontation with the autocratic axis.