Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei killed

International Desk :

Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed, Iranian state media has confirmed, in the opening salvo of a war the US and Israel launched with the aim of regime change.

Khamenei’s daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were also killed in the strikes, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.

Khamenei had not been heard from since the strikes began, and satellite imagery showed that his secure compound was heavily damaged in the initial barrage on Saturday.

The confirmation came early on Sunday, hours after Donald Trump announced the death of the ayatollah, who has ruled Iran as supreme leader since 1989, in a post on Truth Social.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,” Trump wrote. “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 said that the goal of the military campaign, which began on Saturday morning with a barrage of missiles and airstrikes, was regime change.

“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” he wrote.

“We are hearing that many of their IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us.”

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had earlier said there were “many signs” Khamenei was “no longer alive”, and Israeli officials briefed the media that his body had been recovered.

Iranian media reported on Sunday that the daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter of Khamenei had also been killed in Saturday’s strikes.

The semi-official Fars news agency, which has links to the IRGC, reported: “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.”

The death of Iran’s supreme leader is a significant early success in the joint US-Israeli operation, which began with waves of air attacks across the country and have plunged the Middle East into a new regional conflict with no certain timeline or outcome.

Khamenei has carried a political heft unmatched by any other serving Iranian official, military or religious leader.

Iranian media reported that 201 people had been killed and 747 people injured in the initial US-Israeli attacks, including more than 100 children at a school.