Benjamin Netanyahu has stated “all indications show this tyrant is no longer with us” in reference to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, stopping short of explicitly confirming his death following Saturday’s coordinated US-Israeli airstrikes.
The Prime Minister addressed Israelis in a Saturday evening press conference, stating airstrikes have destroyed the Supreme Leader’s compound and declaring “there are signs” Khamenei is dead.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied the claim earlier in the evening, with a spokesperson telling Sky News the Supreme Leader and president were both “safe and sound” following the morning strikes. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Khamenei is alive “as far as I know.”
Khamenei has not been heard from since the US and Israel launched their dual attack on Iran on Saturday morning. Both his palace and compound in Tehran are reported to have been destroyed in the operation.
Video footage from Tehran shows smoke billowing into the sky above the compound, understood to be his official residence in the Iranian capital. Screams and giggles could be heard from a nearby rooftop as onlookers watched the blast, with one woman shouting: “Oh my God they hit it. They struck it. Oh my God.”
Israeli media outlet Channel 12 reported unnamed Israeli sources revealed “growing indications” the leader had been killed during morning airstrikes or that he was “hurt at the very least.” Officials earlier reported the strikes caused “very significant harm” to the leadership of the Iranian regime and its military commanders.
Israeli sources stated Donald Trump specifically targeted Iran’s supreme leader in the first wave of joint missile strikes. The US President posted on Truth Social telling the Ayatollah to either “surrender or die” as he announced strikes across several Iranian cities.
Trump stated: “To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity. Or in the alternative, face certain death. So, lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.”
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, General Mohammad Pakpour, described as the “architect” of the regime’s brutal crackdown against protesters, is already said to have been killed in the strikes. Israeli sources believed several senior military officials have been eliminated.
The US and Israel jointly launched strikes across Iran including Tehran, Bushehr, Qom, Karaj, Kermanshah and Isfahan. In the capital, Khamenei’s palace, compound, the Ministry of Intelligence and Ministry of Defence were all affected. The nations also hit southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and an area housing Iran-supporting militia groups in al-Nasr, Iraq.
Iran stated there would be a “crushing response” and launched missiles across Israel including Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. The country’s military declared all US “bases, resources and assets” are “legitimate targets.”
Dramatic footage showed Iran hitting the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, with a huge mushroom of smoke billowing into the sky following an explosion.
