Trump: WH Identified Ayatollah’s Potential Successors, First Strike Was So Successful ‘They Are All Dead’

The opening phase of Operation Epic Fury has torn gaping holes in Iran’s leadership.

ABC reporter Jonathan Karl said he was told by President Donald Trump that key Iranian officials who were considered successors to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are now dead.

“He said they had identified some possible candidates within the structure of the Iranian government,” Karl said he was told by Trump, according to a video posted to YouTube.

“The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,” Karl cited Trump as saying.

“He told me that somebody within the Iranian government has reached out to him,” Karl added.

“I asked him who it was. He said, ‘I probably shouldn’t tell you,’ but it was, you know, somebody who had survived, and somebody who he added is no longer reporting to the Supreme Leader,” Karl said.

Pres Trump told me tonight the US had identified possible candidates to take over Iran, but they were killed in the initial attack.

“The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,” Trump told me. “It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because…

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) March 2, 2026

A report in The New York Times indicated that at least seven top military leaders in Iran were killed.

In summing up what Trump told various media outlets, The Guardian reported that he said 48 senior Iranian leaders were killed.

Israel meanwhile estimated that 40 of what it called “commanders” were killed in the attacks. Iran has acknowledged several top commanders were killed.

Chief among the Iranian dead was Khamenei, whose death Saturday in the opening moments of the initial Israel attack on Tehran was the product of CIA intelligence reports d with Israel, according to CBS.

Citing sources it did not name, CBS said the CIA had been tracking Khamenei’s movements for months. The CIA learned that Khamenei would attend a Saturday morning meeting in a Tehran location.

The intelligence was passed to Israel, the timing of the attack was adjusted to take advantage of the report, and the mission that carried out the attack was successful.

#OperationEpicFury #FreeIran
“OPERATION EPIC FURY” BOMBER MISSION #2
I can confirm that 3x B-1B “Lancer” bombers from Ellsworth AFB have conducted strikes against Iran regime targets overnight after a non-stop flight from the United States. This is the second bombing mission we… pic.twitter.com/kMZfroiiIu

— DefenceGeek 🇬🇧 (@DefenceGeek) March 2, 2026

The initial attack included three B-1 bombers based in the United States, according to The Times of Israel.

The B-1s were used to attack “above-ground ballistic missile and command and control sites in Iran,” a U.S. official said.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.