Donald Trump says Ali Khamenei is dead
Donald Trump has said that Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei – “one of the most evil people in history” – is dead.
“This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
He said of Khamenei: “He 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,” Trump went on.
Washington is hearing that many among the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, military and other security and police forces “no longer want to fight”, Trump claimed. He suggested he would now be willing to give them “immunity”.
Significantly, the US president also said that “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue “uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective”.
We still do not have independent verification, and Trump has not given any evidence for this statement of Khamenei’s death.
Here is what the US president posted on Truth Social in full:
Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. 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. He 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. 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. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. 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!
Key events
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Donald Trump says Ali Khamenei is dead
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UN secretary general ‘not in a position’ to confirm reports on Iran’s supreme leader
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People in Tehran celebrating, witness says
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Iranian missile hits Tel Aviv. Seven people injured, officials say
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Iranian state-linked media denies that Khamenei is dead
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Trump says he feels reports that Khamenei is dead are correct and ‘a lot of’ Iran’s senior leadership killed in strikes
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Zohran Mamdani denounces ‘catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression’
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Iran official warns of ‘mental warfare’ after Israeli reports of Khamenei’s death
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Kamala Harris: ‘Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want’
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Iran supreme leader is dead – unconfirmed reports say
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‘I can go long or end Iran conflict in two or three days,’ Trump says
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Trump spoke to leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Nato chief, White House says
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Netanyahu calls on Iranians to ‘flood the streets’ and seize ‘opportunity’ to topple regime
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Signs show that Khamenei is ‘no longer with us’, says Netanyahu
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‘The American people are being lied to again’, Bernie Sanders says
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Netanyahu speaks after US-Iraeli strikes on Iran
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Iran requests emergency IAEA meeting over ‘wrongful acts of aggressors’
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Erdoğan says US-Israeli strikes on Iran violate its sovereignty
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Kuwait says three army personnel injured in earlier attack on base
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IDF issues evacuation order for Iran’s Isfahan industrial zone
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US military says ‘minimal damage’ and no American casualties in Iran retaliation
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Macron urges diplomacy and says France was not involved in strikes on Iran
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Iran says supreme leader and president ‘safe and sound’
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201 people killed and 747 injured in Iran, media reports
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Death toll rises to 85 after strike on Iranian school
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US secretary of state Rubio briefed Democratic and Republican ‘gang of eight’ on strikes, says White House
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Iran closing Strait of Hormuz, EU naval officials reported as saying
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UN security council to hold emergency meeting
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Netanyahu and Trump hold phone call
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Iran supreme leader and president still alive, says foreign minister
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Maps: US-Israeli joint military operation in Iran, and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes
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Regime change in Iran is ‘mission impossible’, says Tehran foreign minister
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Summary of developments so far
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British planes ‘in the sky’ in Middle East protecting our people, interests and allies, says Starmer
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Reactions from US lawmakers after Trump strikes Iran
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UK, Germany and France condemn Iranian attacks
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Pictured: Tehran compound of Iran’s supreme leader heavily damaged
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Analysis: Trump’s unprovoked attack on Iran has no mandate – or legal basis
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World leaders react to attacks
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Iran will ‘teach aggressors lesson they deserve’, says Tehran foreign minister
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Iran missile strikes Kuwait base hosting Italian troops, official says
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Oman foreign minister ‘dismayed’ by attacks, tells US ‘this is not your war’
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Saudi Arabia condemns Iran attacks against Gulf nations
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40 killed in girls’ school in Iran after US-Israel attack, state media says
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Bahrain authorities evacuate people from US base location
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Airlines that have cancelled flights to the region
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British Airways cancels flights to Tel Aviv and Bahrain
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What we know so far
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Iran’s supreme leader and president were targets of attack – reports
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Analysis: Yet another mid-talks attack jeopardises chances of Iran taking Trump seriously
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Foreign office issues warning to British nationals in region amid attacks
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One person killed in Abu Dhabi, says UAE defence ministry
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Iran targets US bases in Kuwait, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain
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US navy fleet ‘subject to missile attack’ in Bahrain
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Iran launch missiles at US base in Bahrain – report
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Gulf countries close airspace
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Iranian officials ‘main target’ of US-Israel strikes – reports
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‘No red lines’ in Iran’s response to attacks, says official
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Flights suspended and airspaces closed in region
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What we know so far
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Netanyahu: Attacks on Iran to remove ‘existential threat’
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Netanyahu: US-Israel attacks against Iran will allow Iranians to topple Ayatollah regime
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‘Take over your government’, Trump tells Iranian people
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Iran launched missiles at Israel, says IDF
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Schools and workplaces closed in Jerusalem until Monday
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‘We are going to raze their missile industry to the ground’ – Trump
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Lay down your arms or ‘face certain death’, Trump tells Revolutionary Guards
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US military has launched ‘major combat operations’ in Iran – Trump
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Mobile phone services cut in Iran
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Blasts heard in several cities – reports
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Images show smoke rising from Tehran
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Iran closes its airspace
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not in Tehran
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Loud blasts and columns of smoke in Tehran, report AFP journalists
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Israel strikes Iran
Hundreds of protesters have gathered around the White House after the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran. Several dozen demonstrations opposing the strikes were planned in cities across the United States as part of a national day of action today.
Social media footage of the scene outside the White House shows a separate demonstration in support of the attack, with people holding American flags or Lion and Sun Iranian flags, many with pictures of Reza Pahlavi.
Donald Trump has spoken with the leaders of the UK, Kuwait and Turkey, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said in a post on social media.
Earlier, she confirmed that Trump had spoken to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, as well as Nato secretary general Mark Rutte about the strikes on Iran.
UN secretary general ‘not in a position’ to confirm reports on Iran’s supreme leader
UN secretary general António Guterres addressed the UN security council at an emergency meeting a few moments ago. He said he is “not in a position to confirm” Israeli media reports that Iran’s supreme leader had been killed.
Guterres also said he “deeply regrets” that the opportunity for diplomacy had been “squandered” over Iran.
People in Tehran celebrating, witness says
Deepa Parent
In Tehran, residents have been reacting to the news of the possible assassination of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
One person told the Guardian:
All the people have come out into the streets and are celebrating. The sound of screams, shouting and celebration is coming from all over the city. It’s a very emotional moment.
The war that, for me, began in 2019 – and that I became directly involved in starting in 2022 – we are now winning. We have avenged the blood of our friends.
As we’ve been reporting, there have been conflicting reports surrounding Khamenei’s fate, with Donald Trump appearing to support Israeli reports that the supreme leader is dead, and Iranian state-linked media denying those claims. We await official confirmation.
Iranian missile hits Tel Aviv. Seven people injured, officials say
Emma Graham-Harrison
An Iranian missile hit in the Tel Aviv area about half an hour ago, after sirens and then we heard explosions here. Israeli officials say seven people were injured, one badly.
Images from the scene show firefighters outside badly damaged apartment buildings.
A short while ago, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said condemnation of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran was “hypocrisy”, and said that Israel and the US acted to prevent “an irreversible and immediate threat”.
“Some call this aggression. We call it necessity. We call it survival,” he told reporters at the UN security council.
Asked whether Iran’s supreme leader had been killed in the strikes, Danon said only that Israel “will continue to target the leadership of the radical regime”.
The White House has released this photo of Donald Trump overseeing the US-Israeli attack on Iran early Saturday from his Mar-a-Lago club, in Florida.
Others in the frame include CIA director John Ratcliffe, secretary of state Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
It’s noteworthy that the US president was doing this from a makeshift situation room at his Florida property, rather than the Situation Room at the White House, as would usually be the case. Trump also used this room at Mar-a-Lago during the US operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro last month.
Over in the White House, vice-president JD Vance was in the actual Situation Room, monitoring the operation with senior US officials including energy secretary Chris Wright, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and treasury secretary Scott Bessent.
Iranian state-linked media denies that Khamenei is dead
Contradicting Israeli reports that Ali Khamenei is dead, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim and Mehr news agencies are reporting that the supreme leader is “steadfast and firm in commanding the field”.
Again, we still haven’t had any official confirmation on Khamenei’s fate, and there is a strong incentive for both sides to control the narrative about him being dead or alive. We’ll bring you more clarity as we get it.
Trump says he feels reports that Khamenei is dead are correct and ‘a lot of’ Iran’s senior leadership killed in strikes
The US president has been speaking to US media, in which he appears to back up Israeli reports that Iran’s supreme leader was killed in airstrikes today.
Donald Trump addressed reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, telling NBC News: “We feel that that is a correct story.”
He added that “most” of Iran’s senior leadership is “gone”, saying:
The people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone.
Asked by ABC News about Iranian leadership and whether the US believes they were killed in strikes, Trump said:
A lot of it is, yeah. But we don’t know all, but a lot of it is. Was a very powerful strike.
Asked about the next leadership and if a leader has been identified, Trump said: “Yes. We have a very good idea.”
Further, a Fox News reporter, citing a US official, hears that the US believes Khamenei is dead, along with five to 10 top Iranian leaders who were killed in an initial Israeli strike.
This is in line with a statement from an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson earlier that “a number of the most senior leaders of Iran” were “targeted” and “eliminated” in the strikes, including Ali Shamkhani, adviser for security affairs; Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps; and Aziz Nasirzadeh, minister of defence.
The IDF did not, however, mention Khamenei.
Zohran Mamdani denounces ‘catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression’
In a statement posted on social media, New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, condemned the strikes on Iran and sought to reassure Iranian New Yorkers that they will be safe in the city.
Mamdani wrote:
Today’s military strikes on Iran – carried out by the United States and Israel – mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace. I am focused on making sure that every New Yorker is safe. I have been in contact with our Police Commissioner and emergency management officials. We are taking proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution. Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city – you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here.
The US military’s Central Command earlier released a video showing missiles and jets launching from a naval vessel. It also showed strikes on various unidentified targets.
In the post on X, it said:
As the President stated, our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
The President ordered bold action. CENTCOM forces are delivering an overwhelming and unrelenting blow.
In a subsequent post, US Central Command boasted that they used “one-way attack drones … modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones” in Operation Epic Fury (the name of this attack on Iran).
Iran official warns of ‘mental warfare’ after Israeli reports of Khamenei’s death
The head of public relations at the Iranian supreme leader’s office on Saturday accused the country’s enemies of “mental warfare” after Israeli reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed, Iranian state media reported.
“The enemy is resorting to mental warfare, all should be aware,” the public relations official was quoted as saying.
Kamala Harris: ‘Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want’
Robert Mackey
Kamala Harris, the former US vice-president who lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump, has denounced the attack on Iran.
“Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want,” Harris said in a statement. “Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice.”
“This is a dangerous and unnecessary gamble with American lives that also jeopardizes stability in the region and our standing in the world,” Harris added. “I know the threat that Iran poses, and they must never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, but this is not the way to dismantle that threat.
“During the campaign, Donald Trump promised to end wars rather than start them. It was a lie. Then last year, he said ‘we obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear program. That, too, was a lie,” the former California senator who said recently she is considering another run in 2028 also said.
Harris went on to note that the US constitution is clear that “the President must receive authorization from Congress to enter a war. But even if he had, that does not change the fact this action is unwise, unjustified, and not supported by the American people. There can be no equivocation in our opposition to Donald Trump’s war of choice, and Congress must use all available power to prevent him from further committing us to this conflict. Our troops, our allies, and the American people deserve nothing less.”
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