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Welcome to this PBS News special report today, the US and Israel launched an unprecedented joint attack on Iran with the stated intention to overthrow the Iranian regime.

Multiple US and Israeli air strikes targeted a range of sites including Iran's political leadership, military commanders, and missile infrastructure, and President Trump announced on social media this evening that Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatolio Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in the strikes.

In response, Iran launched its own unprecedented wave of retaliation on half a dozen regional countries focusing not only on American bases but also civilian infrastructure.

Iran's president called the attacks on his country quote unprovoked and illegal, and Iranian officials say that one strike hit a girls' school in Iran, killing more than 100.

We have team coverage tonight here in Washington.

Let's start with our foreign affairs and defense correspondent Nick Schifrin.

So Nick, how did this conflict between the US Israel, and Iran actually start?

How did we get to this point with an unprecedented decision by President Trump to launch joint US or Israeli war to collapse the Iranian state.

That's really how this started.

Israeli and American officials described to me dozens of strikes on dozens of targets around the country.

You can see the map there.

The largest operation in Israeli history using Israeli jets as well as American tomahawks and jets.

Israel primarily focused on Iran's leadership as well as missiles whose range can target Israel.

The US targeted shorter range missiles that can hit US bases and allies, and the single most significant strike targeted the headquarters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, for the last 37 years.

President Trump announced his death and called it quote justice for the people of Iran, but also all great Americans.

and those people from many countries throughout the world that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs.

So this was not the limited strike that was considered by the president or his aides, nor was this even limited to Iran's nuclear or missile program.

This is a war to overthrow the Iranian regime and not quick.

The president himself admitted it could be days or weeks before this was done.

There's no guarantee of success, and there's no knowing what will happen after that.

But even some regional officials who were skeptical of this war before the war started, telling me tonight that now that the US and Israel have started it, they need to see it through.

So Nick, when it comes to that goal of potential regime change, how are US officials making that case?

So President Trump basically addressed Iranians directly when speaking earlier today, and he said that this is a single opportunity for them, and he admitted it might not be easy for the US.

The Iranian regime seeks to kill.

The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties that often happens in war, but we're doing this not for now.

We're doing this for the future.

When we are finished, take over your government.

It will be yours to take.

This will be probably your only chance for generations.

Then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed President Trump speaking directly to the Iranian people.

Do not sit idly by, because soon your moment will come, the moment when you will be required to go out to the streets in your masses to go out to the streets to complete the task and overthrow the regime of horrors that is embittering your lives.

That is a big ask, of course, on then Jeff, one month after the regime killed tens of thousands of protesters in the street.

One other thing, a senior administration official spoke to reporters this afternoon and added one additional argument that the US assessed Iran was considering preemptive strikes on all of those US assets in the region, even though those US assets were just only recently deployed.

How has Iran responded to this both militarily on the ground and then politically from Tehran's leadership, you know, as you said, it's really an unprecedented response, not only because the geographic range of the targets, but also the nature of the targets.

Let's take a look at this map.

Multiple regional officials confirmed in the Iranian strikes on targets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

And I want to show you two specific attacks.

Oh my God Those attacks from downtown Manama, Bahrain, and before that from the Dubai from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, the first ever Iranian attacks on residential or hotel targets on Arab countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In addition, we've seen missile attacks on Tel Aviv and multiple missile attacks on US bases, although a military official tells me that they've only had minimal damage.

Now, before the Supreme Leader spoke.

We heard from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Saranchi saying that Iran was still interested in de-escalation, but he warned that the US and Israeli attacks would fail.

You cannot, you know, change this regime because it's, it's the, the, the, uh, you know, it's supported by the people.

Yes, there are also people who are who are complaining, but they are strong supporters of the regime of the system at the same time.

And then we have a very well established political structure.

and Aranci highlighted this video, a strike on a school that Iran says killed 100, mostly children, military official telling me tonight the US is aware of these reports and is investigating.

Nick meanwhile, what are we seeing in the way of a political response from the rest of the world, you know, Ana, before this attack, as you and I have talked about, many Gulf countries made it clear to the US that the US could not use their countries for an offensive strike on Iran, but all of those countries today not condemning the US or Israeli strikes, instead condemning the Iranian counter strikes with one exception, the Yomani foreign minister, he wrote, quote, Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined.

As for the US's NATO allies, they are divided.

Today we heard from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Canada supports the United States, but French President Emmanuel Macron said that the aggression must stop.

We must increase our efforts to resolve these issues through diplomatic channels because no one can believe that the Iranian nuclear issue ballistic missile activity and regional destabilization will be resolved simply through strikes.

And the bottom line there, that just shows the uncertainty of what happens next.

Nick Schifrin kicking off our coverage tonight.

Nick, thank you.

Meanwhile, let's bring in more of our reporting team here.

congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardin and White House correspondent Liz Landers.

And Liz, I'll begin with you.

Just give us the latest from the president and the White House today.

Yes, the president has been at his private beach club in Palm Beach, Mar a Lago, and we saw photos that were released just a few moments ago from the White House detailing who he was with last night when this started to happen around 1 a.m.

He was with his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the CIA director, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kane and also the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Meanwhile, the Vice President Vance joined from the Situation Room here in DC where he was monitoring with other members of the cabinet.

The president has been busy today, according to the White House press secretary making calls to foreign leaders, including the leader of the UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and also the NATO General Secretary.

He's been talking to reporters as well.

He spoke on the phone with Axios and NBC.

Axios in particular, he said that he has several off-ramps for this conflict.

He said that this could go a long time or it could also be over in a few days, and NBC News asked him who is going to lead Iran now, and he said candidly, I don't know.

So we're continuing to monitor the president.

We are not likely to see him though for the rest of the day, Anna.

Meanwhile, Liz, I know you've been reporting on this all week.

The president's been fielding questions about those ongoing negotiations with Iran, indicating he wasn't happy with how they were going, how did we get to this point?

The president said over and over this week publicly that he wanted diplomacy to be the first route here, but he also made it clear throughout the week and also during the State of the Union 2 millions of Americans, he said that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, so he had made that clear.

We saw also some reporting this week and some leaking through the press about what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs had apparently been telling him the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, a few other news outlets confirmed that Dan Kane had warned him that this could be a serious issue if the United States engaged in a long-term conflict with Iran because of depleted munitions here in the US after giving support to Israel and Ukraine over many years now.

Trump pushed back on this on Truth Social, saying that Kaine had told him that the Iran operation could be easily won, but yesterday the president said two reporters I was there as he was leaving the White House.

He said he had not made a decision about Iran but said, quote, We are not exactly happy with the way that they've negotiated.

Liz Landers, thank you.

And Lisa, the Constitution gives Congress the sole authority to declare war, something, as you well know, Congress has not done in decades.

How are lawmakers seeing their role in this moment?

Under the War Powers Act of 1973.

The administration must notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing troops into a conflict.

Secretary of State Rubio did that.

He called the so-called Gang of Eight, the top leaders from both parties, and in one case texted one of those leaders.

Now the War Powers Act also says that presidents can only continue that conflict for 60 to 90 days.

However, most presidents have ignored the war Powers Act.

They have said that they think that's unconstitutional.

There has not really been a test of that before the Supreme Court.

There will be a political and policy test, however, in the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate next week.

We expect a vote on whether to limit the president from having any military action in Iran.

I want to take a look at what exactly this resolution would do that will come up on the House floor next week.

That war powers resolution would end the use of the military against Iran unless Congress specifically approves it.

It requires a majority vote from both chambers and the president can veto it, so it doesn't look like it would have effect, but it would undermine his ability to say that he has the mandate of the American people if it passed.

We're watching that and on the substance of the strikes themselves, what are you hearing from lawmakers?

Right, there is a vast spectrum unified Congress wants more information both on the end plant here and the objective.

There will be classified briefings this week, but I want to give you a quick sense of the spectrum.

Otherwise, first from the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Roger Wicker.

He wrote today that this is a pivotal and necessary operation and that the president has stated the operation goals clearly, but on the other end, Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, usually someone who's diplomatic was very blunt.

He said today the strikes are a colossal mistake.

The Senate should immediately return to vote on them.

He, along with other Democrats said they are illegal, so it will be a very vigorous debate this week.

Lisa Desjardin, Liz Landers, Nick Schifrinner, thanks to all of you.

All right, well, for perspective on all of this, we turn now to three people with extensive experience dealing with Iran.

Allan Eyre had a four decade career in US government.

He was part of the Obama administration's team negotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA agreement with Iran.

He's now at the Middle East Institute.

Retired Army Colonel Joel Rayburn was on the National Security Council staff during the first Trump administration focusing on Iran and the Middle East.

He's now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Holly Dares is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

That's a Washington think tank.

She spent her teenage years in Tehran and writes The Iranist, that's a weekly substack newsletter.

Welcome to you all, and Allen and Colonel Raymond, I'll begin with you if you can give us briefly your assessment.

I have a feeling you may disagree on this, but just your reaction to these unprecedented strikes, and if it's clear to you what the objective is here.

Alan, to you first.

Well, thanks for asking.

I think objectives are unclear.

There's been a smorgasbord of administration explanations as to why they're doing this.

Iran's an imminent threat.

Iran wouldn't cooperate on it's a negotiating table, um, they were threatening US troops who we'd searched the region for just the history of maligned behavior that Iran has done, so it's a clear reason why we're doing it more clear is the goal.

President Trump was quite clear that he's hoping to paralyze the Iranian regime, and then hope that the Iranian people step in and finish the job and create some kind of new, some type of new regime, although he said today that he might stop bombing in 2 or 3 days, and then do it again 2 or 3 years from now, if they try to reconstitute their missiles or their nuclear program, so there's a lot of ambiguity.

Colonel Raybon, what about you?

Well, I, I think operationally, uh, the objectives have been pretty clear.

Uh, if you combine it with the operations last June, uh, that struck the nuclear sites.

That was a major objective, uh, the nuclear program, ending the nuclear program, the ballistic missile and drone program, uh, it seems like the strikes, uh, from this morning and throughout the day, very much focused on uh eliminating the Iranian regime's ballistic missile capabilities.

Now, the, the further objective um that the administration had stated of compelling the Iranian regime to sever its relations or discontinue its use of its terrorist militant proxies elsewhere in the region, uh, military operations to do that are not entirely clear.

I think that would have to be accompanied essentially with compulsion, coercion of the regime just to the remnants of a regime to just accede to that.

But in terms of the nuclear sites, that's that's sort of the box is checked, the ball istic missiles well on the way to being checked.

And Holly, I know you've been closely following reactions inside Iran.

When President Trump calls on Iranians to take over their country, take back their country.

Does that resonate in any way or does it risk underestimating how entrenched the clerical leadership remains.

Well, I think at this moment now that it's been confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed by US and Israeli strikes.

I mean, the footage I'm seeing is nothing short but extraordinary out of Iran.

Iranians are celebrating in various cities across the country.

And um it it for them, this has been the role of a dictator, the face of one dictator of part of a clerical establishment for 47 years.

For them, a hominy's been around for 37 years of the 4 7 And so in this moment, they're, they're expressing euphoria because of their pain and suffering under the Islamic Republic and especially um given the recent unprecedented massacre in um January at this moment.

Colonel Rayburn, the death of Iran's Supreme Leader.

How does that fundamentally change the trajectory of this conflict and the future of the Iranian regime, such that we know it.

Well, well, not just this conflict in the Iranian regime, it changes the trajectory of the Middle East, Ali Khamenei has been a dominant figure in the Middle East with by essentially taking uh one of the region's strongest powers and uh and employing it in an antagonistic, aggressive, uh, national security policy throughout to destabilize the entire region around him.

I mean, he was the linchpin of that national security strategy.

He's gone.

I think if I could add to the earlier discussion it seems like the overarching objective from the United States with Israel's support is to compel Iran to adopt a different and discontinu essentially, its antagonistic foreign policy, and this is quite this is quite a step toward that, or at least a demonstration of of determination to force that.

Alan Eyre can can air power alone produce lasting regime change?

What does history tell us?

I'm sorry, I'm hearing background noise from the control room.

Yeah, air power is not going to bring about regime change.

Air power can parallel the institutions that are controlling Iran and perhaps even possibly create a space for the Iranian people to to revive their protest that is Holly said, started late last December and continued in January, but history has shown us clearly that you can only do so much from the air, and as Susan Melonia from the Brookings Institute said, one thing you can't do from the air is create democracy.

Holly, what's your reaction to what we've heard here so far, especially when you look forward to what the Iranian people would like to see happen next, especially in the way of intervention from the international community, as you've mentioned, previous uprisings have been squashed.

What do you see happening in the days and weeks ahead?

Well, it's really hard to read in this moment.

Granted, I did talk about um video and footage coming out of Iran.

There is a communication shutdown and what we've been seeing is through Starlink which 500 to 60,000 Iranian users.

Um, used terminals inside the country.

So in this moment, I have to say, um, before, um, the, the, the strikes had begun and um in January we saw, um, before the unprecedented massacre on January 8th and 9th that Iranians were thanking President Donald Trump.

They were changing street signs, and it was because the president had said help is on the way.

Take over your institutions, and of course it took many, many weeks for us to get to this point, but there's been calls from inside the country for respons R2P or responsibility to protect from some of its foremost activists like human rights lawyer Nastrinesutude.

So in this moment, there are celebration, there's hope, but as Alan noted, it's not something of democracy doesn't come from the air overnight.

And so I think we're gonna have to wait and see what the developments are on the ground, and if these protesters that I've mentioned that were celebrating our brutally cru sh ed by the remnants of the security forces that still continue to exist.

Colonel Rayburn, does this, does this moment seem any fundamentally different to you to the point that we've seen uprisings and protests crushed in Iran before.

Well, yes, I mean, it is fundamentally different.

This is an Iranian regime that's never been decapitated before.

Israeli reports are saying they estimate that they that they eliminated up to 40 of the top regime leaders.

Look, look, I think in, in a sense, the regime has already changed.

This was a Khamenei dictatorship.

He, he had consolidated power around himself over the last 37 years, and he's suddenly gone along with senior leaders of the IRGC for the 2nd time, uh, decapitated So already, uh, whatever leadership remains in his, in his wake is going to be different.

They're going to have to adopt a different attitude.

The military mismatch is still going on.

American and Israeli planes are still flying.

It only gets worse militarily from here for the Iranian regime.

So I think there, there's probably a window of opportunity coming.

Alan Eyre, lastly to you now if you look ahead in the days and weeks of what's to come, if the goal here was decapitation of the leadership structure, if the nuclear program has been degraded, we're talking about a different regime in Iran today than 5 years ago even, a different region even in terms of the way that the balance of power has shifted.

What's your guidance to the US government on what those continued strikes President Trump has said could happen, could and should look like.

Well, I mean, again, it is correct to say that the Iranian leadership has been decapitated, but like a Hydra, they got a lot of new heads, and Ayatollah Khamenei and the others had planned.

for this decapitation strike.

They had appointed successors, and it's not so much a question of personalities as institutions.

So to what extent will bombs from above, not just kill important people, and in fact it has killed lots of key leaders, but destroy the institutions that can regenerate new leadership.

That's what I'll be watching in the weeks ahead because at a certain point when President Trump and the Israelis are essentially just bombing the rubble, but the Iranian repressive and oppressive leadership structure is still in place to repress its own people.

Then the question becomes what now In Holly, we have about 30 seconds left for a final thought.

Yeah, I mean, the, the thing is, I think in this moment we have to acknowledge the Iranian people and those they are hopeful.

I know we're putting our analysts hats on here, talking about military strategy and the outcome.

I think it's too soon to tell, but in this moment, I think we should, um, hone in on that factor that they've been under this brutal repressive regime for 47 years, and they've been calling for the ouster of the Islamic Republic for a long time now, and this is where things are.

Alan Ayre, Colonel Joel Rayburn, and Holly Doris, our thanks to the three of you.

And let's turn now to Reza Saya, special correspondent in Tehran.

It's good to see you.

So give us a sense of what you've seen and heard there on the ground today.

Yes, this was a bleak, grim, and scary day for the people of Iran, a population that has seen a lot of adversity over these past 5 decades, and this time the adversity they're facing was an attack by the world's leading superpower, the United States of America and the regional power Israel, both of them nuclear powers, mind you, um, the attacks, the first wave of attacks started at about 9:40 a.m.

local time.

This was a Saturday the first day of the work week here in Tehran.

I was at home with my 7 year old daughter when I heard these jarring, uh, explosives, these jarring uh booms, and that's when I knew that this was an attack.

I quickly put my daughter in my car and then headed to northern Tehran to somewhere safe and in traveling to that part of the city.

I saw some remarkable scenes, stunned people in shock, pouring out of buildings, looking up at the sky, trying to figure out where these explosions were coming from many people on their cell phones, many scurrying to get home.

I saw people flagging down motorcycles to beat the traffic in and some of the scenes that'll stay with me for a very long time or seeing uh parents, many parents that racing to schools, uh, to take, uh, their children to safety, many of their children, uh, in school uniforms.

Uh, after that initial attack, there was a lu ll for about several hours.

That's when we saw state media reporting that the offices, the headquarters of the Supreme Leader had been targeted.

The offices of the president and other uh leaders at that point, no reports of any casualties and fatalities.

We saw a report in state media that a school in the southern city of Minob uh was hit by a missile, uh, at last reports, 90 student s and teachers were killed in that attack.

And after the lull, it lasted a few hours, and it's 7:45 p.m.

local time, uh, more booms here, and by that time, the streets, streets are that are usually busy on a Saturday night.

Uh, we're pretty empty in indication of many people had either left town or raced home for safety.

Reza, tell us a little bit about the reaction you've seen, at least initially to the reports that the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed.

First off, we should point out that no one here, no Iranian officials, state media has confirmed, uh, those reports.

When we heard those initial reports citing Israeli officials.

It was about 11:30 p.m.

local time, and we saw uh and her sporadic tears from residents.

Probably about a dozen people here where I am, uh, for a few minutes, it came out, uh, and cheered and indication of the divisions here and indications of strong feelings among some people in the population who simply do not like uh the clerical establishment led by the Supreme leader.

So no confirmation from Iranian officials, Abbas Arrachi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, and the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry went on television.

Uh, this was a few hours before the initial report saying that indeed uh leaders had been targeted, but those targets, those attacks had failed, that the senior leadership, senior military leaders were safe and OK, but we're waiting, monitoring Iranian officials to see if they have any kind of comments about these reports that are emerging.

That's special correspondent Reza Sayah in Tehran.

Reza, thank you.

And that concludes our PBS News live special report.

You can follow all the latest developments at PBS.org/newshour and on our YouTube and social media channels.

For additional coverage, we hope you'll join us all week here on the PBS Newshour.

I'm Geoff Bennett and I'm Amna Navaz.

Thank you Thank you for watching.