Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, the wife of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has died following injuries sustained in the joint United States-Israel strike in Tehran, Iranian media reported on Monday. She had been in a coma since the attack that also killed her husband and several family members.
Life and family
Bagherzadeh, 79, was born in Mashhad, Iran, and was the sister of former Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting deputy director Hassan Khojaste Bagherzadeh. She married Khamenei in 1964, and together they had six children: four sons – Mostafa, Mojtaba, Masoud, and Meysam – and two daughters – Hoda and Boshra.
She mostly stayed out of the public eye and was present with Khamenei at his Tehran compound during the strike. She was also the mother of Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iran on revenge mood
The deaths of Khamenei and Bagherzadeh have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East. Iranian authorities have vowed retaliation. On Sunday, President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Iran’s military “will forcefully crush the enemy’s bases,” calling the attack a “declaration of war against Muslims.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime,” Pezeshkian said during a televised address.
Casualties in the strike
According to Iranian state media, the strike also killed Khamenei’s daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law, and son-in-law. Bagherzadeh, described by Press TV as having “attained martyrdom,” succumbed to her injuries shortly after the attack, leaving the family devastated.
The strike marks one of the most serious escalations in the region in recent years, with Iran promising a strong response in the coming days.
