The United States has distanced itself from the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, with a senior Pentagon official stating that his death resulted from an Israeli strike, not an American military operation.
Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, the Pentagon’s policy chief, Elbridge Colby, said the strike that killed Khamenei and other senior Iranian figures was carried out by Israel.
“Those are Israeli operations,” Colby told lawmakers, pushing back against suggestions that regime change was an objective of US military action.
Colby’s remarks contrasted with statements by President Donald Trump, who has described the conflict in sweeping terms since the strikes began. In a statement on Saturday, Trump criticised the Iranian regime’s long-standing hostility toward the United States and suggested close coordination with Israel in the broader campaign.
In a social media post, Trump said Khamenei was “unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems” and added that “working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”
The differing tones have raised questions about the administration’s broader objectives in Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Washington acted only after learning that Israel was preparing to strike, portraying the US involvement as reactive rather than part of a coordinated plan for regime change.
Colby sought to clarify the scope of US military aims, stating that the campaign is focused on limiting Iran’s ability to project military power against American forces, bases, and allies.
“The objectives of the military campaign are focused on addressing the ability of the Islamic Republic to project military power against us, our bases, our forces, as well as our allies and partners in the region and beyond,” he said.
He identified Iran’s missile capabilities, weapons production capacity and elements of its navy as primary targets, describing the goals as “scoped and reasonable objectives that can be attained.”
When pressed by Senator Jack Reed on how the killing of Iran’s top leader aligned with US objectives, Colby reiterated that he was referring strictly to American military goals and maintained that the leadership strikes were Israeli actions.
While Trump has publicly encouraged Iranians to seize what he called an “unprecedented opportunity” to overthrow their government, Colby insisted that the US campaign remains focused on degrading Iran’s military power projection capabilities rather than pursuing explicit regime change.
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