Iran Confirms Death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Iranian state media have confirmed the death of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, as a result of strikes carried out by Israel and the United States. The announcement was broadcast on Saturday by state television of the Islamic Republic.

“Great people of Iran, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Imam Khamenei, has been killed,” the official statement read on air.

According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, Ali Khamenei was killed early Saturday morning in his office. Iran’s presidential administration stated that the incident “will not go unanswered.”

A 40-day period of national mourning has been declared in the country, along with a week of non-working days.

The death of the Supreme Leader had earlier been publicly announced by US President Donald Trump. At the same time, the Iranian news agency Fars, citing sources, had previously confirmed only the deaths of Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and daughter-in-law.

Reports of Ali Khamenei’s death emerged amid a sharp escalation around Iran. On Saturday, the United States and Israel launched a large-scale military operation against the Islamic Republic, despite the fact that Washington had been engaged in negotiations with Tehran over the so-called “nuclear file” just a week earlier.

Officials in Tel Aviv said the aim of the strikes was to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. In turn, the head of the White House announced plans to destroy Iran’s naval forces and defense industry and called on the country’s citizens to pursue regime change.

Iran responded with missile strikes on Israeli territory as well as on US military facilities in the Middle East. Media reports indicate that missiles struck not only military but also civilian infrastructure inside Iran. A significant number of casualties have been reported, though independent sources have yet to confirm the exact scale of the losses.