After Israeli media reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed in airstrikes, cheers were heard on the streets of Tehran. The development comes after Senior Israeli official said Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei is dead and his body has been found.
According to Jerusalem Post, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated in an Israeli strike on Tehran, with his body found under the rubble caused by an Israeli airstrike, senior Israeli officials were informed on Saturday evening. Documentation of Khamenei’s body was reportedly shown to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a televised address on Saturday evening,ย Netanyahu said further stated that there were “growing indications” that Khamenei was killed, but did not provide additional details.ย
In 1989, Khamenei became Iran’s supreme leader after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khamenei played an important role in the movement that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the 1979 revolution.
The 86-year-old Khamenei is Iran’s commander-in-chief, who has the final say on all policy and religious matters. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the force that safeguards the Islamic Republic, answers directly to him.
Khamenei has been in charge during previous crackdowns on protesters in Iran. He recently said Iran was ready to retaliate against any American attack. One of the first strikes Saturday hit near Khamenei’s offices. It wasn’t immediately clear where Khamenei was at the time; he hadn’t been seen for days.
Earliewr in the day, the US and Israel launched a major attack on Iran, and President Donald Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979.
Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and US military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.
Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Smoke rose from the capital as part of strikes that Iranian media said occurred nationwide.
In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes had targeted Khamenei’s compound and “there are growing signs that the tyrant is no longer alive.”
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive “as far as I know.” He called the attack “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.”
In a video announcing the “major combat operations,” Trump told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”