Photo: ATTA KENARE / AFP / Getty Images
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reportedly killed in joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Saturday (February 28), to two Israeli sources familiar with the matter told CNN. One source claimed that Israeli officials have seen a photo of Khamenei’s dead body.
President Donald Trump confirmed the news in a post on Truth Social
"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," President Trump wrote in a post on Saturday afternoon.
"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," he added.
Israeli officials said that the attacks also took the lives of at least 40 senior members including Iranian Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani, one of the key leaders of the Iranian security decision-making processes, and the personal advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for security affairs.
After news of Khamenei's reported death began to spread, celebrations broke out in the streets of Tehran.
The attacks sparked a wave of retaliatory strikes by Iran on US military bases and other targets across the Middle East. U.S. officials said that while the strikes did cause some damage, there were no casualties.