Mourners follow the truck carrying the coffin of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader of Iran, in the holy city of Mashhad, Iran, on Thursday afternoon, July 9, 2026. The latest phase of the U.S. military campaign in Iran has a new focus, but not necessarily a clearer strategy. (Emile Ducke/The New York Times) By JULIAN E. BARNES, ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID E. SANGER The Trump administration has lurched back into a war against Iran that had never really ended. When the war started…
