Israel has killed one senior Iranian leader after another in airstrikes as it seeks to topple the Islamic Republic. But its past experience of targeting senior militants shows the strategy has limits and can sometimes backfire.
People walk on Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) square near a huge banner showing the late commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard expeditionary Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in 2020, and Hezbollah and Hamas officials killed by Israel, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 21.
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A mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, March 11.
Photos from the Mideast in the 3rd week of the Iran war
Iranian Kurdish Mariam crosses the Haji Omeran border crossing on foot between Iran and the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), Iraq, Sunday, March 15, 2026, as the border remains open. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A man cleans debris from his apartment damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The shattered structure of a police station is seen after it was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A FlyDubai plane is parked at Dubai International Airport as smoke rises in the background after a drone struck a fuel tank early morning, forcing the temporary suspension of flights, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
A member of the armed wing of the Kurdish-Iranian opposition group Organization of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle, known as Khabat, stands in front of a shrapnel pockmarked wall that allegedly was damaged in strike by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq last week at a military base on the outskirts of Irbil, Iraq, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli security forces inspect a house in east Jerusalem where a fragment of an Iranian missile crashed onto the rooftop, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Israeli soldiers operate next to their mobile artillery unit on the border with Lebanon in northern Israel, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Nofar Eliash holds her dog as she takes shelter with others while air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian and Hezbollah missile strikes in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A man runs past a bulldozer clearing debris from a building damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Residents inspect a house damaged yesterday by a projectiles launched from Lebanon in Nahariya, northern Israel, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk past tents sheltering people displaced by Israeli airstrikes at a public space along the Beirut waterfront at sunset in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Fire and plumes of smoke rise after a drone struck a fuel tank forcing the temporary suspension of flights. near Dubai International Airport, in United Arab Emirates, early Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
