U.S. and Israeli forces’ decimation of Iran’s senior military command, most notably by killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has shown that surgically eliminating a state’s leadership in the early hours of a conflict is no longer a theoretical capability.

This is the most uncomfortable lesson from the Iran war for North Korean military planners, who must reckon with not only the implications for their missile and drone strategies but with the survivability of the regime itself. 

"The West has the sensors, all-source intelligence, and projected power capability in 2026 to have a good