News of Khamenei’s death: Conflicting reports about Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dies Show up on Saturday. Despite multiple U.S. media reports, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuEven US President Donald Trump suggested the 86-year-old was killed, with an Iranian publication describing him as “commanding the battlefield with firmness and determination”.
Trump addressed the reports in an interview with NBC News. “We think it’s the right story,” he said. The 79-year-old added that much of Iran’s senior leadership had “left.”
“Most of the people who made all the decisions are gone.”
Read more: Why Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba is unlikely to become Iran’s next supreme leader
Iranian media suggests Khamenei is not dead
Iran’s Tasnim and Mahr news agencies reported that Khamenei was still commanding the field. However, they provided no evidence.
regime change in iran
Trump also talked about regime change in Iran. Asked how long U.S. operations with Israel would last, he told ABC News: “Realistically, as long as we let it. But it’s done so much damage. It’s like, they’ve basically been incapacitated for as long as we let it.”
Asked about the next leader and if one had been identified, the president added: “Yes. We have a very good idea.”
Netanyahu is Iran’s supreme leader
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address that there were “increasing signs” that Khamenei had been killed in an Israeli attack on his residence early Saturday.
“There are many signs that Khamenei has died,” Netanyahu told reporters, further urging Iranian citizens to “come to the streets and get the job done.”
Iran’s response
As reports emerged of Khamenei’s death, an Iranian official issued a warning to Israel and the United States.
“We will make Zionist criminals and despicable Americans regret it,” Ali Larijani, a senior Iranian security official, wrote in a post on his X platform, formerly known as Twitter.
He added: “The brave soldiers and great Iran will provide an unforgettable lesson to the hellish oppressors of the international order.”
Iran situation
As attacks on Iran unfold, President Trump urges the Iranian public to “take control of their own destiny” by defying Islamic leadership. In a video announcing “major combat operations,” Trump told the Iranians, “When we’re done, take over your government. It will be yours. This may be your only chance in generations.”
Iranian state media reported late Saturday that at least 201 people were dead and more than 700 injured, citing the Red Crescent Society. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israeli and U.S. military bases in the region, with fighting continuing late into the night.
Some of the first attacks on Iran appeared to have occurred near the office of the 86-year-old Khamenei. Before Israeli officials confirmed the deaths, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that “as far as I know,” Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were still alive. He called the attack “unprovoked, unlawful and absolutely unlawful.”
(With AP input)
