Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Killed In US–Israel Strikes

Iran’s state television has confirmed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in recent strikes. The Iranian government also announced 40 days of mourning following the killing of Khamenei. According Iranian media reports, Khamenei was killed in the early hours of Saturday. Along with the Ayatollah, Khamenei's daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed.

Earlier after US President Donald Trump indicated that Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in US-Israel airstrikes, State-run agency IRNA has confirmed the death of the Ayatollah. Iran has announced a 40-day period of national mourning after it was confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the US, Israel air strikes. Along with this, the government has announced a seven-day public holiday in the nation.

Earlier, quoting an Israeli official, Times Of Israel reported the Iranian leader had been killed in an Israeli strike on his compound on Saturday morning, and a senior Israeli official said that his body had been found.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been shown an image of his body after it was recovered from the compound in Tehran.

US President Donald Trump declared on Truth Social that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead, calling it the "single greatest chance" for Iranians to reclaim control of their country and warning that military action would continue. "Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead," Trump wrote, describing the development as "Justice for the people of Iran" and for Americans and others he said were harmed under Khamenei’s leadership.

When Ali Khamenei appeared publicly in October 2024 for the first time in five years, he delivered a stark warning that Israel “won’t last long,” he declared from a Tehran mosque. Urging supporters to “stand up against the enemy,” the then-84-year-old projected defiance even as Iran faced intensifying regional pressure and renewed threats from the US.

Seventeen months later, that long confrontation appears to have culminated in his death. A towering figure since succeeding Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Khamenei consolidated sweeping authority over Iran’s armed forces, judiciary and state institutions, shaping the Islamic Republic’s hardline posture abroad while crushing waves of unrest at home, from the 2009 election protests to the 2022 demonstrations after the death of Mahsa Amini. His killing now leaves Iran’s political system facing its most uncertain transition in decades.