Iran’s Khamenei is dead, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in airstrikes.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

There was no immediate Iranian confirmation of his fate. The United States and Israel carried out military strikes on Iran on Saturday, targeting its top leaders and plunging the Middle East into a conflict that Trump said would end a security threat to the US and give Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He said 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.”

“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” the US leader added.

Trump continued: “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.

“As I said last night, ‘Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!’ Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves.”

Trump added that the “heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Saturday that there were signs that Khamenei was killed in an attack on his compound as part of US-Israeli strikes.

“This morning, in a powerful surprise strike, the compound of the tyrant Ali Khamenei was destroyed in the heart of Tehran,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.

“For more than three and a half decades, this cruel tyrant has spread terror across the world while oppressing his own people, while working tirelessly and without pause on a plan to destroy Israel,” he added.

“That plan is no more – and there are many signs that this tyrant is no longer alive,” Netanyahu said.

Two Israeli television networks reported that Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

“Ali Khamenei is dead,” reported public broadcaster Kan on its X account.

Israel’s Channel 12, citing a source, said: “Khamenei is dead.”

Khamenei, 86, became Iran’s highest authority in 1989, following the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ruhollah Khomeini. As supreme leader, he held ultimate control over Iran’s political, military and religious institutions, shaping domestic policy and guiding foreign relations.

The post of Supreme Leader was created after the 1979 revolution and enshrined in Iran’s constitution, giving a top cleric ultimate authority over the president and parliament. The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body vetted by a hardline watchdog aligned with Khamenei, formally selects the leader.