The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has announced that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed during coordinated military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel.
In a post shared on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that the 86-year-old cleric died in the joint offensive, which reportedly began early Saturday. According to him, Khamenei was unable to evade American and Israeli surveillance systems.
“He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump wrote.
Describing the development as a turning point for Iran, the US president added: “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. Hopefully, the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier suggested there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed. The Reuters news agency, citing a senior Israeli official, also reported that Khamenei’s body had been located.
However, Iran’s Tasnim and Mehr news agencies insisted that the supreme leader remained “steadfast and firm in commanding the field,” rejecting claims of his death.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Tohid Asadi said there had been no formal confirmation from Iranian authorities regarding the alleged killing. He noted that Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, told NBC News earlier that, “as far as I know”, the supreme leader and other senior officials were in good health.
Responding to the reports, the head of public relations at Khamenei’s office also dismissed the claims as psychological tactics by foreign adversaries.
“The enemy is resorting to mental warfare; all should be aware,” the official was quoted as saying.
In a further development, Iranian state media reported on Sunday that Khamenei’s daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed in the strikes.
According to Iranian media, citing the Red Crescent, the strikes targeted 24 provinces and left at least 201 people dead. In retaliation, Iran launched counterattacks aimed at Israeli targets and US military installations across the Middle East.
In a televised address, Netanyahu said several “senior figures” had been “eliminated” in the offensive, including “commanders in the Revolutionary Guard and senior officials in the nuclear programme. And we will continue.”, He added.
