Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei is dead, says Trump
Source by : CNA Digital NEWS Hub
01 Mar 2026 07:52 AM
Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei is dead, says Trump
After the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, President Donald Trump said on social media that Iran's Ayatollah "Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead".
A file photo of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking during a televised message in Tehran, Iran on Feb 9, 2026. (File photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Feb 28) that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was dead, after Israel and the US launched an attack of unprecedented scale aimed at bringing down the Islamic republic.
Cheers could be heard on Tehran's streets after reports of the death of Khamenei, Iran's paramount leader since 1989, as plumes of black smoke hovered over the Pasteur district where he usually resides, witnesses told AFP.
"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country," he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said there were "many signs that this tyrant is no longer alive".
Addressing the people of Iran, the arch-enemy of Israel and the US since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Netanyahu said: "This is your time to join forces, to overthrow the regime and to secure your future."
The strikes prompted Tehran to fire off a missile barrage across the Middle East, with injuries and at least one death reported in explosions that rocked showcase cities in Gulf Arab monarchies.
Iranian authorities urged residents to evacuate the capital, a city of 10 million, while the country's Red Crescent society said that at least 201 people had been killed in the strikes and more than 700 wounded.
The Iranian judiciary said one strike that hit a school in the south killed 108 people, although AFP was unable to access the site to verify the toll or the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The UAE reported one civilian dead and damage from missiles in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as blasts from Tehran's retaliatory salvo and air defences intercepting it also echoed over Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier told NBC News that Khamenei was alive "as far as I know", adding that "all high-ranking officials are alive".
Also asked about Khamenei's health, foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei told the BBC he was "not in a situation to confirm anything", but "the whole system, the whole nation is focused on defending (our) national integrity".
In a sign that the fighting was far from over, Netanyahu said "thousands" of targets would be hit over the coming days, while Iran's top security official vowed a fierce reprisal.
The Israeli army said that Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Khamenei, and the head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour, were both killed.
Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said: "The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will teach an unforgettable lesson to the international oppressors."
"BARBARIC"
Tehran residents had been going about their usual business when the strikes began. Security forces quickly flooded the streets, shops pulled down their shutters and few pedestrians risked venturing out, an AFP journalist saw.
"I saw with my own eyes two Tomahawk missiles flying horizontally toward targets," a Tehran office worker told AFP before communications and internet access were cut.
The Red Crescent said 24 of Iran's 31 provinces were affected by the strikes.
Across Israel, city streets stood deserted as residents took cover in shelters while the blasts of intercepted Iranian missiles reverberated overhead. Emergency services reported two people injured.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards, meanwhile, radioed ships to say the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, was shut, according to the EU's naval mission and Iranian media.
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