Iran announces the death of Supreme Leader Khamenei

Iranian state television officially announced the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, less than 24 hours after Tehran and the Supreme Leader’s headquarters were targeted by Israel.

The Iranian government declared 40 days of national mourning and ordered the closure of official institutions for seven days. The Iranian Supreme National Security Council said that “the martyrdom of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will be the starting point for a great uprising against the tyrants of the world.”

The Supreme National Security Council confirmed Khamenei’s death in an official statement.

Ali Hosseini Khamenei was born in Mashhad on April 19, 1939. He was the third president of Iran after the Islamic Revolution, serving from October 13, 1981, to August 3, 1989. After the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, he became the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 4, 1989.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with Iranian people in Tehran. File

The United States and Israel launched the most intense attack on Iran in decades on Saturday, and US President Donald Trump said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the operation.

A senior Israeli official told Reuters that Khamenei’s body was found after an airstrike, and Trump said the United States worked closely with Israel to target the man who had led Iran since 1989.

Iran described the attacks as unjustified and illegal, and responded by launching missiles at Israel and at least seven other countries, including US allies in the Gulf region hosting American bases.

President Donald Trump, who undertook what he described as his largest foreign policy move, after campaigning for reelection as a “president of peace,” said the strikes were intended to end the decades-long Iranian threat and ensure that Iran could not develop a nuclear weapon.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that intelligence and tracking systems had been monitoring Khamenei’s location, adding that “there was nothing he or the other leaders killed with him could have done.”

He repeated calls for Iranians to overthrow their government but warned that “intensive and precise bombing will continue uninterrupted throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve our goal of bringing peace across the Middle East — and the world.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier said that Khamenei’s compound had been destroyed.

Three informed sources said that Iranian Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and IRGC Commander Mohammad Bagheri were killed in Israeli attacks.

The Israeli military said it confirmed the deaths of five other senior military commanders, including Ali Shamkhani, adviser to the Supreme Leader.