The last time the United States and Israel bombed Iran, a reporter asked Vladimir Putin how he’d respond if Iran’s supreme leader were killed in the attack. “I don’t even want to discuss it,” the Russian president replied. Less than nine months later, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died in an Israeli-led, U.S.-backed targeted strike on Saturday, Putin had little choice but to respond. The assassination will have triggered two of Putin’s deepest instincts: deep-rooted paranoia about his own