TEHRAN: Iran announced on Sunday that its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, marking a dramatic escalation in the conflict and a turning point for the Islamic Republic.
The announcement followed a statement by U.S. President Donald Trump, who declared hours earlier that Khamenei had been killed and urged Iranians to “take control” of their country. Iran’s state news agency later confirmed the death, saying the 86-year-old leader was killed in a strike on his residence and office in the early hours of Saturday.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several senior Iranian officials also died in the operation. According to individuals familiar with the planning, Washington and Israel had spent months gathering detailed intelligence on Iran’s top leadership before launching the coordinated assault.
The death of Khamenei, who had led Iran since 1989 and was a staunch adversary of both Washington and Tel Aviv, triggered mixed scenes across the country. In parts of Tehran and other cities, crowds gathered in the streets, some celebrating with fireworks and music. Others mourned, reflecting the deep divisions within Iranian society.
Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which answers directly to the supreme leader, vowed swift retaliation against what it described as U.S. and Israeli aggression.
According to state media, a temporary leadership arrangement will place the president, the head of the judiciary and a senior cleric from the Guardian Council in charge during a transition period. However, the longer-term question of succession now looms large. The authority to appoint a new supreme leader lies with the Assembly of Experts, a clerical body that has reportedly been weighing potential successors given Khamenei’s age and health.
Whether his removal will significantly alter Iran’s political trajectory remains uncertain. Many of the country’s key institutions, particularly the IRGC, consolidated their power under his leadership. In recent years, the Guards demonstrated their dominance by forcefully suppressing nationwide protests, with rights groups reporting thousands killed.
Both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously signalled that weakening Iran’s ruling establishment was a central objective of the strikes, which began around 1 a.m. local time on Saturday. In a video message, Trump told Iranians: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours.”
The killing of Iran’s most powerful figure introduces the risk of instability and a potential power vacuum in a region already gripped by volatility.
Tehran responded swiftly. Iranian forces launched waves of ballistic missiles at Israel, where authorities reported at least one fatality. Several Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, said they were targeted, as did Jordan. The Emirati government reported that falling debris from an Iranian missile killed at least one person.
Commercial shipping through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a corridor that handles roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies, was effectively halted, according to shipping firms and Iranian media. Major transport hubs, including Dubai International Airport, suspended operations as large sections of regional airspace were closed.
Analysts cautioned that the intensifying conflict could entangle the United States in a prolonged confrontation with unpredictable consequences. Iran maintains significant missile capabilities and commands a network of allied militias across the Middle East that could sustain retaliatory operations.
Despite appeals for restraint from several world leaders, explosions were reported again early Sunday in multiple Iranian cities, according to social media accounts. Trump warned that U.S. military operations would continue “uninterrupted” for as long as necessary to achieve what he called peace in the Middle East.
The humanitarian toll remains unclear. HRANA, a Washington-based Iranian human rights organisation, said at least 133 civilians had been killed and about 200 wounded, figures that could not be independently verified. Iranian state media reported that dozens of children died when a girls’ primary school near a naval facility was struck. The U.S. and Israeli militaries did not immediately comment on those claims.
The unfolding crisis adds to longstanding tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme and regional influence. Previous U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last year were said by Washington to have crippled the programme, though subsequent assessments indicated it had been weakened rather than destroyed.
With leadership uncertainty in Tehran and hostilities expanding across borders, the coming days are likely to shape not only Iran’s future political order but also the stability of the wider Middle East.
