Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has been killed in a large-scale military strike carried out jointly by Israel and the United States, according to diplomatic and intelligence sources.
Israel’s ambassador in Washington reportedly informed U.S. officials that the 86-year-old cleric died after precision strikes hit his heavily fortified compound early Saturday, in what both allies described as a pre-emptive operation targeting Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons drive.
The assault marked one of the most dramatic escalations in Middle East tensions in decades.
The News chronicle gathered that U.S. and Israeli forces launched coordinated attacks on multiple strategic locations across Iran, with initial waves said to have struck areas surrounding the Supreme Leader’s offices. Several hours after the bombardment, Israeli intelligence confirmed that Khamenei’s body had been recovered from the devastated site.
International media outlets, including CNN, cited an Israeli official who also disclosed the development to Axios.
Iran responded swiftly, firing missiles toward Israeli territory and reportedly targeting additional locations across the Middle East, raising fears of a widening regional conflict.
Recall that Khamenei had ruled Iran since 1989, wielding ultimate authority over the country’s political, military, and religious establishment, and remained the most powerful figure shaping the Islamic Republic in the decades following the 1979 revolution.
His death signals a potentially seismic shift in Iran’s leadership structure and injects deep uncertainty into an already volatile geopolitical landscape.
