IRANIAN state media confirmed early Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike on his compound in downtown Tehran.
This plunges the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raises fears of wider regional conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump had announced the death hours earlier, describing it as giving Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.
AP cited the state television reported that the 86-year-old leader was killed while at his office, noting that this “showed that he consistently stood among the people and at the forefront of his responsibilities, confronting what officials call global arrogance.”
Satellite imagery from Airbus confirmed that the site had been heavily bombed.
Following the strikes, Iran responded by launching missiles and drones toward U.S. and Israeli military bases in the region.
The Revolutionary Guard warned that it would carry out its “most-intense offensive operation in the history of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” targeting what it described as “Israel and American terrorist bases.”
Air defenses in Tehran fired immediately after the announcement, and mourning ceremonies began across the country, including at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.
Iran’s Cabinet issued a statement condemning the attack as a “great crime” that “will never go unanswered,” while the government declared a 40-day period of public mourning.
In Tehran, some citizens were initially seen cheering from rooftops and homes after rumours of Khamenei’s death first circulated. - March 1, 2026
