Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in Israeli and US strikes, Iranian state media said on Sunday. Iran has declared 40 days of national mourning after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death.
Earlier, taking to Truth Social, Trump announced that the Iranian Supreme Leader was killed in joint US-Israeli strikes, calling it the “single greatest chance” for Iranians to reclaim control of their country.
Iranian Cabinet warned that this ‘great crime will never go unanswered’ after Khamenei is killed by US-Israeli campaign, reported AP.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said ‘the most-intense offensive operation’ ever coming to target Israel, US Mideast bases, reported AP.
The report added that head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and a top security adviser killed in US-Israeli strikes.
Iran’s parliament speaker called US and Israeli leaders ‘filthy criminals’ who will face ‘devastating blows.’
The death occurred following strikes by the US and Israel (Operation Epic Fury/Lion’s Roar) on Saturday. By announcing exactly 40 days of mourning, the government is leaning into a powerful cultural script, providing the clerical establishment time to manage the transition behind closed doors.
The country’s Supreme Leader’s office has declared a period of national mourning, with flags flying at half-mast and public gatherings planned to pay respects, marking the closing of a 37-year chapter in the Islamic Republic’s history.
Ayatollah Khamenei was the successor to the Revolution’s founder, Ruhollah Khomeini. Since 1989, his “story” was one of unwavering defiance against Western influence.
Authorities have heightened security across the country, particularly in major cities like Tehran, to prevent unrest and ensure public safety.
Attention is focused on the process of selecting Khamenei’s successor, with speculation about potential candidates and the impact on Iran’s future leadership. However, meeting under wartime conditions is difficult, and the question remains, who “owns” the future of the Republic–the clerics or the Revolutionary Guard– the most urgent cliffhanger.
His death is being portrayed by state media as the Martyrdom of the Guardian, framing his end not as a defeat, but as a final sacrifice for the sovereignty of the nation.
The official Farsi account of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged his death and posted a verse from the Quran on X in the early hours of Sunday. As per Tasnim News, Khamenei was killed while at the workplace in the early hours of Sunday.
