Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Iran this morning, an Israeli official told Israeli media on Saturday night.
Channel 12 news reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump were shown an image of the body of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, after it was recovered by Iranian authorities from his compound in Tehran.
Israel carried out a massive strike on Khamenei’s compound in the opening salvo of attacks on Iran this morning.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter updated American officials that Israel had succeeded in killing Khamenei.
Top Israeli official: Khamenei’s death makes Middle East peace possible
Killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “will finally make true peace possible and bring prosperity to the Middle East and beyond,” a senior Israeli official tells The Times of Israel.
In addition to Khamenei being targeted, says the official, “so were scores of senior IRGC commanders.”
“Ballistic missile facilities were taken out. And the regime is being crippled.”
The official says that Israel “will continue to strike them until the existential threat posed by the Ayatollah regime is removed.”
Top Khamenei aide pledges revenge against ‘Zionist criminals’ after supreme leader said killed
After Channel 12 reported that he was among the top Iranian officials targeted in US and Israeli strikes, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s top aide Ali Larijani publishes a statement on his X account vowing revenge.
An Israeli official said tonight that Khamenei was killed in Israel’s initial strikes this morning, and Netanyahu is reported to have been shown a photograph of Khamenei’s body retrieved from his compound.
“We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions. The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors,” Larijani tweets.
Khamenei reportedly put in place detailed plans for his succession and emergency chains of command should he, or other top leaders, be killed in potential US or Israeli strikes, elevating longtime loyalist Larijani to manage the crisis.
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