Iran’s state media said on Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, after the United States and Israel carried out what officials described as their most ambitious joint strikes on Iranian targets in decades.
“The Supreme Leader of Iran has reached martyrdom,” state broadcaster IRIB reported, confirming the death of the 86-year-old cleric who had led the Islamic Republic since 1989.
Iranian media said Khamenei was killed in his office in the early hours of Saturday during a barrage of US-Israeli attacks on Tehran. State television said his death showed that he had remained “among the people and at the forefront of his responsibilities” while confronting what officials called foreign aggression.
Earlier, Israel acknowledged Khamenei had been killed in an Israeli strike on his compound, according to Israeli media citing officials. The Times of Israel quoted an Israeli official as saying the body had been recovered, while Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been shown an image of the body.
The killing of the second supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no publicly designated successor, risks plunging Tehran into uncertainty and heightening the prospect of wider conflict amid Iranian threats of retaliation.
US President Donald Trump said in a post on X that Khamenei’s death was “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,” adding that the United States had worked closely with Israel to target the leader. The strikes, he said, hit Iranian military and government sites.
Shortly after Trump’s comments, a post appeared on Khamenei’s X account in Persian reading, “In the name of Nami Haider (peace be upon him),” prompting brief uncertainty online before Iranian state media confirmed his death.
Trump in his social media post said intelligence and tracking systems had monitored Khamenei’s movements and reiterated calls for Iranians to overthrow the government, while warning that US-Israeli bombing would continue until their objectives were met.
The United States and Israel have said the operation aimed to curb what they describe as Iran’s longstanding threat to the region, a claim Tehran has rejected.
What Happened On Saturday
Explosions were reported across Iran early on Saturday, with state and local media saying blasts were heard in the capital Tehran. Images published by Iranian outlets showed smoke rising near Jomhouri Square and Hassan Abad Square in central Tehran.
Reports also emerged of explosions in several other cities, including Karaj, west of the capital, Isfahan and Qom in central Iran, and Kermanshah near the western border, according to Iranian media and social media posts.
Videos online showed crowds running from affected areas as loud blasts echoed in the background.
Footage verified by the BBC showed explosions within roughly one kilometre of the Leadership House compound in Tehran, the official residence of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Satellite images published later showed apparent damage inside the compound, including scorched buildings and debris.
Iranian officials initially declined to confirm the supreme leader’s condition. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei said earlier on Saturday he was “not in a position to confirm anything” when asked about Khamenei’s status.
On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address that Israeli forces had destroyed Khamenei’s compound in central Tehran, adding that there were “many indications” the Iranian leader had been killed. |
