Eurasia Press & News
US President Donald Trump announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in comments that came after reports of an Israeli-American bombing targeting the compound where the Iranian leader resides in the capital Tehran.
Trump said Khamenei “was one of the most evil figures in history,” adding that Washington “hears that many Revolutionary Guards, the military and security forces no longer want to fight and want our pardon.”
The US president added, in remarks on his page on the site “Truth”, that his country hopes that “the Revolutionary Guards and the police will integrate peacefully with the Iranian patriots as a team to restore their country to its greatness,” referring to the possibility of changes within the structure of the Iranian regime following the recent strikes.
Trump’s comments came hours after there were conflicting reports about Khamenei’s fate, following the bombing of a residential complex believed to be the residence of the Iranian leader in Tehran, as part of attacks that marked the beginning of a US-Israeli military escalation on Iran since Saturday morning.
At the moment of preparing this news, there was no official confirmation from the Iranian authorities about the killing of Khamenei or denying it, at a time when the country is witnessing a state of widespread security alert, amid fears of a widening confrontation in the region.
A senior Israeli official told Reuters that the supreme leader was killed in an Israeli strike, and his body was found.
According to the N12 news channel, footage of Khamenei’s body was shown to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said there were indications that Khamenei was “no longer in the country,” but did not explicitly confirm his death.
Netanyahu announced that the Khamenei complex had been destroyed, and that commanders in the Revolutionary Guards and senior officials in the nuclear file had been killed.
Unprecedented escalation
This development comes in the context of an unprecedented military escalation led by the United States and Israel against Iran, amid accumulated tension against the backdrop of Iran’s nuclear program, the Iranian presence in a number of countries in the region, in addition to repeated US accusations of Tehran’s support for armed groups in the Middle East.
Media reports on Saturday morning of shelling targeted a heavily fortified compound in Tehran, believed to house sensitive command headquarters, including the Iranian leader’s residence, which led to violent explosions that shook the capital.
In the absence of a clear official Iranian account, speculation about Khamenei’s fate escalated before Trump came out announcing his death, without providing further details about the nature or circumstances of the operation.
Who is Ali Khamenei?
Ali Khamenei is the second-highest-level guide in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran after Khomeini, and he took over as a guide in 1989 following Khomeini’s death.
Born in 1939 in the city of Mashhad, Khamenei took part in activities opposed to the Shah’s rule before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. After the success of the revolution, he held several positions, most notably the presidency of the Republic between 1981 and 1989, before being elected Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
As a supreme leader, Khamenei has broad powers including overseeing the armed forces, appointing commanders of the security and military apparatuses, and drawing up the state’s general policies, making him the most influential figure in the Iranian regime over the past three decades.
