作者：扎卡里·B·沃尔夫，37分钟前发布，2026年3月3日美国东部时间上午6:00
本文曾发表于CNN的《What Matters》新闻通讯。要将其发送到您的收件箱，请在此处免费注册。
几十年来，在美国中情局（CIA）的秘密行动因尴尬的失败和意外后果而受到重创后，美国政府一直回避将目标对准外国领导人。
据CNN总统历史学家蒂姆·纳夫塔利称，针对伊朗最高领袖阿里·哈梅内伊的刺杀行动（这引发了美国与伊朗之间一场未宣而战的战争），是现代史上美国（在此次行动中与以色列合作）首次公开杀死外国国家元首。
对于关注此类事件的人来说，过去两个月内，美国已”斩首”了两个外国政府——这两个政府都是美国的对手，且掌控着大量石油储备。委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗目前在纽约等待审判，而哈梅内伊已死亡。
美国法律实际上禁止参与暗杀活动——最近一次是在里根签署的行政命令中。该命令在技术层面至今仍然有效。
但自”9·11″事件后，国会赋予总统打击恐怖主义的广泛权力，美国开始缓慢但稳步地向这一时刻迈进。两党总统均曾下令杀死恐怖组织头目（如奥萨马·本·拉登）。2020年，时任总统唐纳德·特朗普下令空袭伊拉克，杀死伊朗指挥官卡西姆·苏莱曼尼，迈出了更大一步。现在，美国已经杀死了一位外国国家元首。
“你总能找到一个因其权力和堕落程度而移除其对人类有益的人，”纳夫塔利表示，并认为很少有人会为哈梅内伊的死感到惋惜。”但决定铲除外国国家元首不应轻易或仓促做出。”
“我在他动手之前先下手为强”
特朗普总统及其政府均未公开使用”暗杀”一词来描述对哈梅内伊的杀害。他们给出了多个袭击伊朗的理由：对伊朗领导人在核计划谈判中的不信任；伊朗可能发展反导导弹；伊朗在其他国家资助恐怖组织；以及伊朗近期在国内镇压抗议者。
周六美国东部时间凌晨2:30，特朗普在其社交媒体账号上发布视频宣布打击行动时，毫无证据地称伊朗构成”迫在眉睫的威胁”。但在接受ABC新闻记者乔纳森·卡尔采访时，特朗普给出了更为个人化的理由。
“我在他动手之前先下手为强，”卡尔引用特朗普的话说，”他们尝试了两次，而我先下手为强。”
特朗普可能指的是2024年夏季美国情报机构关于伊朗策划暗杀当时的候选人特朗普和其他官员的报告，当时宾夕法尼亚州一场竞选集会上有一名与伊朗无关的枪手试图刺杀特朗普。伊朗否认了这一指控。
当美军参与行动时，外国领导人通常会在本国面临司法审判。
伊拉克前独裁者萨达姆·侯赛因在美国入侵并推翻其政府后，经伊拉克当局审判被处以绞刑。
利比亚领导人穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲在被革命力量俘获后，在多国联军轰炸行动的协助下，于交火中丧生。
二战后，盟国在纽伦堡对纳粹领导人进行了审判。
中情局参与政变和暗杀活动此前一直秘而不宣
美国曾参与推翻并杀害亲美独裁者、越南总统吴庭艳。
1973年，智利领导人萨尔瓦多·阿连德被中情局直接秘密推翻，最终自杀身亡。
美国在20世纪50年代策划了伊朗政变
其他在美支持下被推翻的领导人（如1953年伊朗的穆罕默德·摩萨台）被投入监狱而非杀害。美国后来承认其参与了此次政变，原因是美国和英国担心伊朗及其石油资源会落入铁幕之后。此次政变由西奥多·罗斯福总统的孙子小科密特·罗斯福在伊朗参与策划。
水门事件后，一个两党特别参议院委员会成立，调查美国情报机构的滥用行为。以爱达荷州参议员弗兰克·丘奇命名的丘奇委员会发布了一份专门针对暗杀问题的特别报告。
在数百份文件中，该委员会详细记录了美国试图破坏外国领导人及暗杀他们的行动。最引人注目的是肯尼迪政府下令的针对古巴领导人菲德尔·卡斯特罗的失败暗杀企图。
如今，死亡更可能来自高空
正如CNN国家安全分析师彼得·伯根所写，奥巴马政府期间，美国革新了秘密无人机打击的使用，以杀死疑似恐怖分子。
技术自那时起不断进步。以色列国防军在社交媒体上发布了一段无人机拍摄的视频，显示巴勒斯坦领导人叶海亚·辛瓦尔在被炸毁的房间内独处时的最后时刻，无人机在附近盘旋。
目前尚不清楚针对哈梅内伊的打击使用了何种技术。去年7月，伊朗声称另一名巴勒斯坦哈马斯政治领导人伊斯梅尔·哈尼耶在德黑兰被一枚”短程射弹”暗杀。
追踪其日常行踪
以色列似乎发射了杀死哈梅内伊及其他领导人的射弹，但CNN周日报道称，中情局提供了关于最高领袖行踪的关键情报，使其能够成为打击目标。
据五位知情人士向CNN透露：
（中情局）一直在监视他的日常活动模式——他住在哪里、与谁会面、如何交流以及在受攻击威胁时可能撤退到哪里。他们还在跟踪伊朗的高级政治和军事领导人，这些人很少与这位伊朗最高领袖（掌权近40年）聚集在同一地点。
此次袭击恰逢不仅可以除掉最高领袖，还能同时打击其他伊朗领导人的机会。近期情报显示，这些领导人将出现在德黑兰的一个综合建筑群，该建筑群内设有最高领袖办公室、伊朗总统府和国家安全机构。
换句话说，机会就在那里。
当美国认为暗杀是个坏主意时
根据丹·博宁为CNN撰写的2008年关于暗杀企图的文章，丘奇委员会得出结论：1960年至1965年间，至少有8次针对卡斯特罗的暗杀企图，包括通过黑帮暗杀。
委员会的结论表达了两党对暗杀的反对立场。它引用了约翰·F·肯尼迪总统的话（颇具讽刺意味的是，肯尼迪本人也在试图暗杀卡斯特罗后遇刺身亡），称美国不应暗杀外国领导人。
“我们不能卷入这种事情，否则我们都将成为目标，”根据丘奇委员会的报告，肯尼迪如此说道。
理查德·赫尔姆斯的证词提供了更详细的引用。他参与了1953年伊朗政变和中情局暗杀企图，后来成为中情局局长。
在证词中，赫尔姆斯解释了反对暗杀的道德和实际理由：”如果你试图通过这种手段除掉一位外国领导人，那么谁会接管这个国家？而最终结果是否比行动前更好？”
赫尔姆斯以越南吴庭艳的暗杀为例：”整个行动最终对美国不利。”当时在伊斯兰革命之前，赫尔姆斯是美国驻伊朗大使。
“这不是因为我失去了冷静或勇气，只是因为我认为这在当今美国不是一个可行的选择，”赫尔姆斯在谈及反对暗杀时表示。
三位连续的美国总统（共和党人杰拉尔德·福特、民主党人吉米·卡特和共和党人里根）均签署了禁止美国政府参与暗杀的行政命令。
里根的行政命令在技术层面至今仍然有效，但最高法院已赋予特朗普在职期间官方行为的广泛豁免权。
特朗普现在正抓住机会重塑地缘政治体系，在无需寻求国会批准的情况下在西半球采取行动。
Has the US ever assassinated a world leader before?
Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, 37 min ago, PUBLISHED Mar 3, 2026, 6:00 AM ET
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
The US government for decades shied away from targeting foreign leaders after embarrassing failures and unintended consequences from covert activities by the CIA.
The targeting and killing of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which opened an undeclared war with Iran, is the first time in modern history the US — in this case working with Israel — openly killed the leader of a foreign country, according to CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali.
For those keeping track, the US has now decapitated two foreign governments — both US adversaries overseeing vast oil reserves — in the past two months. Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro is in New York awaiting trial and Khamenei is dead.
There is actually a ban on US involvement in assassinations in US law – most recently in an executive order signed by Ronald Reagan. It is still technically in effect.
But since 9/11, after which Congress gave presidents broad authority to use force to combat terrorism, there has been a slow but steady move toward this moment. Presidents from both parties have killed leaders of terrorist groups such as Osama bin Laden. President Donald Trump took another step when he ordered the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani by airstrike in Iraq in 2020. Now the US has killed a foreign head of state.
“You can always come up with an individual who, by their power and their depth of depravity, whose removal benefits humanity,” Naftali said, arguing few will mourn Khamenei’s demise. “But making the decision to wipe out a foreign head of state should not be taken easily or quickly.”
‘I got him before he got me’
Neither President Donald Trump nor the Trump administration has publicly used that word – assassination – to describe the killing of Khamenei. They have offered multiple reasons for attacking Iran – lack of faith in Iran’s leaders in negotiations over Iran’s plans for a nuclear program; the potential for Iran to develop anti-ballistic missiles; Iran’s sponsorship of terror groups in other countries, the recent killing of protesters in its streets.
When Trump announced the strikes in a video posted to his social media account at 2:30 a.m. ET Saturday, he said, without evidence, that Iran posed an “imminent” threat. But in a phone conversation with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, Trump offered a more personal reason for killing Khamenei.
“I got him before he got me. They tried twice, well I got him first,” Trump said, according to Karl.
Trump is likely referring to US intelligence from the summer of 2024 that Iran was plotting to assassinate then-candidate Trump and other officials, around the same time a gunman with no known ties to Iran tried to kill Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Iran denied the claim.
When the US military has been involved, foreign leaders have faced justice in their own countries.
Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was hanged after a trial by authorities in Iraq after the US invaded and toppled his government.
Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi was killed in crossfire after being captured by revolutionary forces, aided by a multinational bombing campaign with allies.
After World War II, allies put Nazi leaders on trial in Nuremberg.
CIA involvement in coups and assassinations was previously kept secret
The US was complicit in the overthrow and killing of Vietnamese dictator Ngo Dinh Diem, who previously had been propped up by US support.
The CIA was directly, and secretly, involved in the 1973 ouster of Chilean leader Salvador Allende, which led to his suicide.
The US orchestrated an overthrow in Iran in the 1950s
Other leaders overthrown with help by the US, like Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran in 1953, were put in prison rather than killed. The US has since acknowledged its role in the coup, undertaken because the US and Britain feared Iran, and its oil, would fall behind the Iron Curtain. It was Kermit Roosevelt Jr., grandson of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who worked in Iran to help orchestrate the coup.
After Watergate, a special bipartisan Senate committee was convened to assess abuses by the American intelligence community. The Church Committee, named for Sen. Frank Church of Idaho, issued a special report specifically on the issue of assassinations.
Over hundreds of papers, it ticked through US efforts to undermine foreign leaders and assassinate them. Most notable are the failed assassination attempts against Cuba’s Fidel Castro, first ordered by the Kennedy administration.
Today, death is more likely to come from above
During the Obama administration, the US revolutionized the use of covert drone strikes, as CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen has written, to kill suspected terrorists.
Technology has progressed since then. Israel Defense Forces released footage on its social media from a drone of what it said were the last moments of the Palestinian leader Yahya Sinwar, when he was sitting alone in a bombed-out room while the drone hovered nearby.
It’s not clear what technology was used in the strike on Khamenei. Last July, Iran claimed that another Palestinian, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Tehran by a “short-range projectile.”
Tracking his daily moments
Israel appears to have fired the projectile that killed Khamenei and other leaders, but CNN reported Sunday that the CIA provided key intelligence on the Ayatollah’s whereabouts that allowed him to be targeted.
From CNN’s report:
(The CIA was) monitoring for his daily patterns — where he lived, whom he met with, how he communicated and where he might retreat under threat of attack, five people familiar with the matter told CNN. They were keeping tabs, too, on Iran’s senior political and military leaders, who rarely gathered in the same place with the ayatollah, the country’s supreme leader for nearly four decades.
The attacks coincided with an opportunity to take out not only the ayatollah but also other Iranian leaders, who recent intelligence suggested would be at a Tehran compound that is home to the offices of the ayatollah, the Iranian presidency and the national security apparatus.
In other words, the opportunity was there.
When the US decided assassinations were a bad idea
The Church Committee concluded there were at least eight attempts to assassinate Castro between 1960 and 1965, including by mob hit, according to the author Dan Bohning, who wrote for CNN about the assassination attempts in 2008.
Its conclusions express bipartisan opposition to assassinations. It quotes President John F. Kennedy, somewhat ironically given attempts to kill Castro and his own ultimate demise, as saying the US should not be assassinating foreign leaders.
“We can’t get into that kind of thing, or we would all be targets,” Kennedy said, according to the Church report.
More detailed quotes from the testimony of Richard Helms, who was involved in the 1953 Iran coup and also CIA assassination attempts before rising to be CIA director.
In testimony, Helms explained both moral and practical opposition to assassination.
“If you are going to try by this kind of means to remove a foreign leader, then who is going to take his place running that country, and are you essentially better off as a matter of practice when it is over than you were before?”
Helms pointed to the assassination of Diem in Vietnam as an example.
“That whole exercise turned out to the disadvantage of the United States,” Helms said. At the time he made those comments, in the years before the Islamic Revolution, Helms was the US ambassador to Iran.
“It isn’t because I have lost my cool, or because I have lost my guts, it simply is because I don’t think it is a viable option in the United States of America these days,” Helms said of his opposition to assassination.
Three successive US presidents, Republican Gerald Ford, Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Reagan would each sign executive orders making it illegal for the US government to engage in assassination.
Reagan’s order is still technically in effect, but Trump has been given broad immunity by the Supreme Court for his official acts while in office.
Trump is now seizing his opportunity to remake the geopolitical system, operating without seeking congressional approval in both hemispheres.