The United States and Israel attacked Iran. The Supreme Leader is dead. Most potential successors appear to have been killed in follow-up strikes, though reports remain conflicting. And if you are wondering what comes next, that is exactly the point. Nobody seems to know. Probably not even the people giving the orders.

Let me say the uncomfortable part first.

When you kill the leader of a country in the first hour of a military operation, and then proceed to kill dozens of senior officials and military commanders, it is hard not to wonder whether you were ever looking for a negotiation partner. Trump himself said the strikes “knocked out most of the candidates” and that “second or third place is dead.” Israel’s defense minister publicly threatened to assassinate whoever is named successor. A three-person interim leadership council has been formed, and Khamenei’s son Mojtaba reportedly survived, but the message seems clear: the table itself may have been removed.