Trump said his death is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.” The death occurred after a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites.
The president also said “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue “uninterrupted” through the week or longer.
There was no immediate comment from Iran. The assassination of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, would throw its future into doubt and raise the prospect of a protracted conflict given Iranian threats of retaliation.
Trump in his post called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history.”
Trump said that Khamenei “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.”
In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed when Israel struck his compound early Saturday.
Shortly after the address, two Israeli officials said Israel had confirmed his death. The officials both spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and gave no further details.
Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He had the final say on all major policies, leading Iran’s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard – the two main centers of power in the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.
About 12 hours after the attacks began, the U.S. military reported no U.S. casualties and minimal damage at U.S. bases despite “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.” It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.
Various members of Iran’s leadership were targeted in the attack. Israel said it killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country’s defense minister. The Israeli military also said its strikes killed the secretary of the Iranian Security Council, a close adviser to Khamenei.
Israel said the strikes had targeted three locations in Tehran where intelligence had indicated that top Iranian officials were gathered. Neither Iran nor the U.S. commented on or confirmed Israel’s claims about the Iranian leadership.
Even if Iran’s top leaders are killed, regime change is not guaranteed.
Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the administration had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance.
The trigger for Saturday’s strikes appeared to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks on Thursday. They also reflected dramatic changes that have left Iran’s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.
Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel has left Iran’s network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. U.S. sanctions and global isolation have decimated Iran’s economy.
At least three explosions were heard Saturday evening near the Intelligence Ministry building in northern Tehran, witnesses said, adding that air defense systems had begun operating there. Israel’s military said it had begun new strikes against missile launchers and aerial defense systems in central Iran.
In southern Iran, at least 85 people were reported killed when a girls’ school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, the local governor told Iranian state TV.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said he was “aware of reports” that a girls’ school was struck and they were looking into them.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA said at least 15 people were killed in the southwest, quoting the governor of Lamerd, Ali Alizadeh, as saying a sports hall, two residential areas and a hall near a school were hit.
“Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, a key mediator of the nuclear talks, said on X. “Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this.”
Israel said the operation has been planned for months with the United States. Air Force pilots were striking “hundreds of targets across Iran,” Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement.
Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence targets, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information on the attack.
Trump, in seeking to justify the military action, claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program, despite asserting last year the program had been “obliterated” by an earlier round of strikes.
He acknowledged Saturday that there could be American casualties, saying “that often happens in war.” It was a notable statement from a U.S. leader who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”
Trump also said he was aiming to “annihilate” the Iranian navy and destroy regional proxies supported by Tehran. He called on the paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard to lay down arms, saying members would be given immunity or face “certain death” if they didn’t.
Iran had said it hoped to avert a war, but maintained its right to enrich uranium. It did not want to discuss other issues such as its long-range missile program or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
Iran on Saturday requested an urgent session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors about “these threats to safeguarded nuclear facilities,” according to a letter posted by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
Trump had threatened military action but held off following Iran’s recent crackdown on protests spurred by economic grievances that evolved into a nationwide push against the ruling clerics.
Now, Iranians are likely to be wary about taking to the streets again because the Revolutionary Guard has demonstrated its ruthlessness, said Kamran Matin, an expert on Iran at the University of Sussex in southern England.
Saudi Arabia said Iran had targeted its capital and eastern region in an attack that was repelled. Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom, and three buildings were damaged in the capital, Manama, and Muharraq city by drone strikes and debris from an intercepted missile.
Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said a drone targeted the main international airport, injuring several employees. Kuwait’s state-run news agency said three troops were injured by shrapnel from strikes that hit Ali Al-Salem air base. Explosions could also be heard in Qatar. Jordan said it “dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles.
