Khamenei's assassination does not affect Iran's defense capability - report

U.S. military experts and officials acknowledge that the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not undermined Iran’s military capability, The New York Times reports.

According to experts interviewed by the publication, Iran is not acting like a "decapitated" state.

"Iran is demonstrating every day that the killing of the country’s supreme leader at the beginning of the war has not totally crippled its ability to fight, the report reads.

The U.S. and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The IRGC announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. U.S. military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint U.S.-Israeli attack.

The Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran later announced the election of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain ayatollah, as the country's new Supreme Leader.