Jack Keane, a retired four-star general and former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, says the US-Israeli military campaign launched against Iran on February 28 is a calculated effort to dismantle the Islamic Republic’s political and military architecture.

Keane, who now serves as chairman of the Insтιтute for the Study of War, told RFE/RL in an interview the strikes, and reports that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the operation made for a “historic day of tremendous significance.”

Keane said the first phase of the operation has exceeded expectations, pointing to strikes that targeted senior leadership, missile systems, drone infrastructure, and key elements of Iran’s military command structure.

The campaign was designed to “strip away the entire political leadership and the structures that support it,” including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and to continue for “two to three weeks if necessary,” depending on how the regime responds, he added.