President Donald Trump announced the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, following joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” the Republican president wrote on Truth Social on Saturday afternoon, adding: “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”
It comes after an Israeli government source toldThe Independent that Khamenei — who rose to power in 1989, succeeding Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of Iran's Islamic Revolution — was killed in a strike that destroyed his compound.
His death was announced hours after the U.S. and Israel launched an aerial bombardment of Iran, which targeted government and military sites in Tehran. It came after the U.S. spent weeks deploying military assets to the region.
Trump justified the surprise strikes on Iran as essential to dismantle its nuclear program, marking the second major U.S. attack on the country after bombing nuclear sites in June 2025.
He said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” will continue “uninterrupted” throughout the week — and potentially longer.
Video footage showed smoke billowing over crumbling buildings in Tehran on Saturday. More than 200 people have been killed, including dozens at an elementary school near the Strait of Hormuz, according to state media.
Iran swiftly retaliated against the U.S.-Israeli strikes by launching missile barrages at Israel and U.S. bases across the region — including in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar — raising fears of broader escalation. The U.S. military has not reported any fatalities.
Trump’s early-morning military operation — dubbed “Epic Fury” — was met with sharply contrasting reactions from lawmakers.
Democrats accused the 79-year-old president of dragging the U.S. into another foreign war — without congressional authorization — and breaking his campaign promise to put American interests first.
“Trump has launched an illegal regime change war in Iran with American lives at risk,” Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, wrote on X. He called on Congress to hold a vote on a war powers resolution to prevent further action. The measures are expected to be voted on in the House and Senate in the coming days.
A number of Republicans, though, praised the strikes as a vital step to safeguard U.S. national security and weaken Iran's oppressive regime.
“The end of the largest state sponsor of terrorism is upon us,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said in a statement. “This operation is necessary and long justified.”
Few Americans support U.S. military action in Iran, and a majority believe Trump should have sought approval from Congress beforehand, according to recent YouGov surveys.
Following the strikes, the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. issued a joint statement affirming that they did not participate in the attacks and urging Iran to seek a “negotiated solution.” Officials in China and Russia condemned the attack, with Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry characterizing it as “a pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression.”
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