The war in Iran – again – points to the strategic shortcomings of assassination as policy of foreign affairs

Targeted killings can disrupt an adversary, but they rarely lead to collapse — especially when the target is a nation-state like Iran.

By: Brian O'Neill, Georgia Institute of Technology, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: May 21, 2026

Words: 1,373

Last Updated: 2 months ago

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By Brian O'Neill, Georgia Institute of Technology

The coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes at the outset of the war in Iran killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with other key regime figures. In doing so, the United States and Israel crossed what The New York Times and others described as “a new Rubicon”: the deliberate, overt killing of a head of state.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu framed their war not …

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