Iran's official sources declared on March 1 that Israeli attempts to assassinate the country's senior leadership had failed, with a string of confirmations that key figures, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, were unharmed, Fars News Agency reported.

The confirmations of survival were notably silent on the fate of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose death was subsequently confirmed by both Israeli and Iranian sources following strikes on his Tehran compound earlier in the day. Khamenei, 86, who had held the position of Supreme Leader since 1989, was killed in the strike on his residence in Tehran, making him the most senior political figure to be killed in the operation.

"Senior officials of the system are in complete health," official Iranian news sources said in the wake of the US-Israeli strikes, directly contradicting Israeli claims of successful targeted killings of Iranian leadership figures.

Parliamentary sources confirmed that Ghalibaf had survived the strikes without injury. Fars News separately confirmed the safety of Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

President Pezeshkian's survival was confirmed by two sources: his son, Yousef Pezeshkian, and his executive deputy, Mohammad Jafar Qaempanah, both of whom stated that the president was unharmed.

The official media outlet of the judiciary confirmed that Chief Justice Mohseni-Ejei was safe, while the Iranian army confirmed the safety of its commander-in-chief.

The announcements came directly in response to claims by Axios, citing Israeli officials, that senior Iranian figures had been the primary targets of the Israeli air operation.

Israeli Channel 12 had reported growing indications of his death earlier in the day, citing unnamed sources, while Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said he was alive "as far as I know" before the confirmation was issued.

The killing of Khamenei triggers a constitutional succession process under which the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body, must convene to select a new Supreme Leader.

 In the interim, a temporary leadership council composed of the President, the head of the judiciary and a member of the Guardian Council assumes authority.

With fighting ongoing across the country, Iran's internet connectivity is at 4% of normal levels and the Strait of Hormuz is closed; the timeline and viability of that process remain deeply uncertain.