Luke Vargas

A very fragile ceasefire had been in place between those two sides dating back to the end of 2024.

And now it seems the lid is fully come off and fighting, picking up very rapidly there.

Andrew Dowell is The Wall Street Journal's Middle East editor.

I have a feeling we'll be back on with you as the week progresses.

Drew, thank you so much for the update.

Thanks.

Well, away from the battlefield, this conflict is also leading to major political changes in Iran.

Journal correspondent Suna Rasmussen has been monitoring who in the Iranian leadership has been taken out by these U.S.

and Israeli strikes.

And he joins me now with more.

Sooner the Ayatollah is dead.

The killing of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday, definitely dealing a blow to Iran's ruling structure.

And yet I think a lot of people are asking at this point if this is actually changing anything.

What can you say?

How is the Iranian establishment reacting here?

I mean, are we seeing signs that this is proceeding in an orderly fashion or are there, I don't know, indications of some sort of destabilizing power vacuum that someone else might try to sweep into?

I mean, we've seen the CIA had assessed that a hardliner could take power in the Ayatollah's absence.

I mean, is it safe to say we're not seeing regime change per se?

The regime is just finding someone new to take the place of the Ayatollah?

President Trump said last night that Iran's entire military command is gone, adding as well that many of them want to surrender.