US President Donald Trump announced that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had died following coordinated US-Israel airstrikes on Iranian territory. This news immediately sent shockwaves through the international political arena, escalating tensions in the Middle East to a new level.
On the social media platform Truth Social , Trump asserted that Khamenei, 86, had been killed in a joint US-Israeli attack that began early Saturday morning. According to the US President, Washington's advanced intelligence systems and surveillance technology, working closely with Tel Aviv, left the Iranian supreme leader with "no chance of escape." He also stated that this was the "greatest opportunity" for the Iranian people to reclaim their country, and called on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and police to "peacefully integrate with patriotic Iranians."
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared there were “increasingly clear signs” that Khamenei had been assassinated. Reuters , citing a senior Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity, also reported that the body of Iran’s supreme leader had been located.
Meanwhile, according to Al Jazeera's Tehran correspondent, there has been no official confirmation from the Iranian authorities regarding Khamenei's death. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also told NBC News that, "as far as I know," the Supreme Leader and many other high-ranking officials are in good health.
The airstrikes on Saturday reportedly targeted 24 provinces of Iran, killing at least 201 people, according to Iranian media citing the Red Crescent. Targets included military facilities, command centers, and sites related to the nuclear program. In response, Iran launched a large-scale counterattack against Israel and U.S. military assets across the Middle East, raising concerns about the risk of a wider regional conflict.
In a subsequent speech, Netanyahu stated that many "high-ranking figures" in Iran had been purged, including IRGC commanders and key officials in the nuclear program. For his part, President Trump called for the overthrow of the current regime in Tehran, emphasizing that the campaign would continue.
