Iranian state media confirmed the death of Ayatollah Khamenei in the early hours on Sunday. The confirmation followed claims from US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that Khamenei was killed in a joint US-Israeli air strike that hit his compound in Tehran on Saturday.
“It is announced to the Iranian people that His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, was martyred in the joint attack launched by America and the Zionist regime on the morning of Saturday, February 28,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported. Iranian state media said that Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson were also killed.
Israeli media this morning reported that the country’s air force killed a total of 30 senior Iranian official, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, “in just half a minute in the opening strike” yesterday. Iran’s Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks in the opening hours of the conflict.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was 86 at the time of his death. He was the Islamic Republic of Iran’s second Supreme Leader, taking power in 1989 following the death of the republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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