TEHRAN: Iranian state-owned media have officially confirmed the martyrdom of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The 86-year-old leader who ruled Iran for nearly four decades was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike that targeted his residential compound in Tehran, according to official reports .
Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported that the Supreme Leader succumbed to injuries sustained in the precision strike, which also claimed the lives of several of his family members. Earlier reports from Fars News Agency and other Iranian outlets had confirmed the death of Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter in the same attack . “After establishing contact with informed sources in the Supreme Leader’s household, the news of the martyrdom of the daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter of the Revolutionary Leader has unfortunately been confirmed,” Fars News Agency reported in statements that preceded the confirmation of the Supreme Leader’s own death .
The confirmation marks a seismic shift in the Islamic Republic’s leadership and comes after hours of conflicting reports. Earlier, Iranian news agencies Tasnim and Mehr had vigorously denied the Supreme Leader’s death, quoting a source close to his office saying, “I can tell you with confidence that the leader of the revolution is steadfast and firmly commanding the field” . However, those denials were superseded by the later official confirmation of his martyrdom.
The Strike and Immediate Aftermath
The operation, which US President Donald Trump named “OPERATION EPIC FURY,” began late Friday with waves of airstrikes targeting IRGC command facilities, air defense systems, and military infrastructure across Iran . According to Israeli officials, some 200 fighter jets completed the largest flying mission in Israel’s history, hitting 500 targets throughout Iran .
The strike on Khamenei’s compound in central Tehran was described by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a targeted operation. “This morning we destroyed the compound of the tyrant Khamenei,” Netanyahu said in a televised address. “There are many signs that this tyrant is no longer. This morning we eliminated senior officials in the ayatollahs’ regime, Revolutionary Guards commanders, senior figures in the nuclear programme — and we will continue” .
US President Donald Trump celebrated the development on his Truth Social platform, posting: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS” . Trump confirmed that US intelligence and tracking systems had successfully located the Supreme Leader, and working “closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do” .
