Iran Confirms the Killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

The Tasnim and Fars news agencies of Iran have confirmed the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Fars news agency says the Iranian government has declared 40 days of public mourning in the wake of Khamenei’s killing.

It also announced seven days of public holidays.

It added that Khamenei was killed at his office while “performing his assigned duties” in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Earlier today, Iranian media also confirmed that Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and his grandson were killed in a strike.

US President Donald Trump first announced on social media that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Tehran.

Trump, posting on Truth Social, said;

"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. 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. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, “Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!” Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!"

Additionally, the official IRNA news agency reported that a three-person council, consisting of Iran's president, the chief of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council, will temporarily assume all leadership duties in Iran. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, thereafter, denounced Khamenei’s killing “as a great crime” and promised to respond, according to a statement from his office.

“This great crime will never remain unanswered and will turn a new page in the history of the Islamic world and Shiism. The pure blood of this high-ranking leader will flow like a roaring spring and will eradicate American-Zionist oppression and crime,” it said. 

“This time too, with all our strength and determination, with the support of the Islamic nation and the free people of the world, we will make the perpetrators and commanders of this great crime regret it,” it added.

Pezeshkian also declared seven days of public holidays in addition to the 40 days of mourning.

Iran’s Fars news agency further reported that mourners are taking to the streets to mourn slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Fars news agency further published a statement from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announcing the start of “the most devastating offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

The offensive will begin in “just moments”, the IRGC said, and will target the “occupied territories and American terrorist bases” in the region.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has responded to Khamenei’s death, saying “we have lost a great leader and we mourn him”, according to a statement carried by Fars news agency.

It added that Khamenei’s “martyrdom at the hands of the most vicious terrorists and executioners of humanity is a sign of the legitimacy of this great leader and the acceptance of his sincere services”.

It added that the “Iranian nation’s hand of revenge…will not let them go”.

The IRGC will stand “firm in confronting domestic and foreign conspiracies,” the statement said.

Source: BBC | Al Jazeera