The Supreme Leader of Iran, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a joint operation between the United States and Israel against Iran on Saturday, confirmed Iranian state media.
The Iranian government declared 40 days of mourning. The country’s Supreme Leader was killed following an attack launched by the US and Israel on Saturday against Iran, as part of a major military campaign aimed at toppling the Islamic regime.
Israeli military officials said that high-ranking Iranian security officials were among the dead, including the Defense Minister, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, and the secretary of Iran’s Security Council, a close advisor to Khamenei. Iranian state media confirmed the deaths.
Khamenei was killed in an Israeli strike, a person briefed on the attack told NPR. The NPR source requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Trump did not confirm that the attack was carried out by Israel.
Trump had posted on Truth Social that Israel, with US support, had assassinated Khamenei.
“He couldn’t escape our intelligence and our sophisticated tracking systems, and working in close collaboration with Israel, there was nothing he, or the other leaders who were killed along with him, could do,” Trump said. Hours later, he warned Iran against further retaliation, writing: “IT’S BETTER THEY DON’T DO THAT, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE NEVER SEEN BEFORE!”
The first wave of US and Israeli airstrikes began after dawn on Saturday in Iran, with huge explosions echoing in the capital, Tehran. Early videos showed large columns of dense smoke.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the attacks as a “flagrant violation” of its national sovereignty. A statement said the airstrikes hit military and civilian targets.
The humanitarian organization Iranian Red Crescent Society stated that more than 200 people died in airstrikes across Iran.
The speaker of the Iranian parliament called the leaders of the United States and Israel “filthy criminals” who will face “devastating blows” for the attacks.
“They hit many targets around me and we heard jets and missiles exploding,” said a resident of west Tehran, reached by phone before communications were cut in Iran. Like other Iranian residents interviewed by NPR, he did not want to be identified for fear of arrest. “People were panicking and trying to get home. Children are running out of school.”
Iranian state media reported that one of the airstrikes hit a girls’ primary school in southern Iran, killing at least 85 children, according to local prosecutors. Prosecutors said more girls were still buried under the rubble. Saturday marks the start of the school and work week in Iran. NPR requested comment from Israeli authorities on the report that a school was hit.
“They hit several targets around me and we heard more girls in the rubble. Saturday marks the start of the school and work week in Iran. NPR requested comment from Israeli authorities on the report that a school was hit.” US Central Command spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins told NPR on Saturday that he was aware of reports of civilian injuries.
“We take these reports seriously and are investigating them,” Hawkins said. “The protection of civilians is of utmost importance and we will continue to take all available precautions to minimize the risk of unintended harm. Unlike Iran, we never target civilians — and we never will.”
Iran continued to respond with missile and drone launches, spreading the conflict across the region. Air raid sirens sounded in Israel as several missiles hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the early hours of Sunday. According to Israeli rescue services, in the first 24 hours of the latest conflict, one person was killed and 121 were injured.
Several Gulf countries also reported Iranian attacks, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. The Jordanian government, which also hosts major US military bases, reported shooting down 49 drones and ballistic missiles that threatened its territory. In Dubai, smoke was visible rising from the world’s busiest international airport and its main port, while debris from air defense systems colliding with Iranian drones caused several injuries in a residential area.
“Our goal is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a wicked group of very tough and terrible people,” Trump said in an eight-minute video posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
Tension preceding the attacks
The joint US-Israel attack — called “Epic Fury” by the Pentagon and “Roaring Lion” by Israel — came after weeks of escalating tension and a major increase in the US military presence in the region. The US claimed to be trying to negotiate a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, holding the latest round of talks on Thursday in Geneva. But Trump said those efforts had failed.
In preparation for the military attack, analysts speculated whether Trump would opt for a brief and limited strike — as he had done previously in Iran and in many other cases over the past year — or choose a more comprehensive operation. The initial impression — and the president’s own words — pointed to a large-scale, open-ended bombing campaign.
“We will destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry. It will be completely, once again, obliterated,” Trump said, adding: “We will annihilate their navy.”
The president claims Iran was rebuilding its nuclear program before the attack — Trump had repeatedly said the program was “totally obliterated” in US and Israeli attacks last June.
Trump also ordered the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to surrender: “Drop your weapons. You will be treated fairly and given full immunity, or face certain death.”
Military attacks in the Middle East
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has monitored Iran’s nuclear program for years, along with other nuclear experts, stated there is no evidence that Iran has resumed uranium enrichment, the central pillar of the program.
Before launching the attack, Trump said he preferred a negotiated deal but would also accept regime change. Beyond that, he offered few clues about his ultimate goal in Iran.
But in his video, he made clear that he wants the fall of Iran’s religious leadership, which has ruled the country for 47 years.
Addressing the Iranian people directly, he urged them to shelter in place for now while the bombings took place. He then added: “When we’re done, take power. It will be yours. This will probably be your only chance for generations.”
However, Iranian security forces brutally suppressed mass street protests last month. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency claims more than 7,000 people were killed. Trump raised the death toll to 32,000 without citing his source.
A Tehran resident reached by NPR on Saturday said internal security forces were flooding the streets of some residential neighborhoods.
“Many of them are on the streets on motorcycles, displaying their weapons,” she said. “They want to create fear.”
There are no signs that the US will send ground troops to Iran, and military analysts say it will be extremely difficult to topple the government with air power alone.
Therefore, it is impossible to say whether Iran’s leadership may be vulnerable to an internal uprising or whether it would be able to crush protests as it did earlier this year.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the US and Israeli attacks on Saturday, as well as Iran’s retaliatory strikes.
“We are witnessing a grave threat to international peace and security. Military action carries the risk of unleashing a chain of events that no one can control in the world’s most volatile region,” Guterres said during an emergency UN Security Council meeting. “Let me be clear: there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Lasting peace can only be achieved by peaceful means, including genuine dialogue and negotiations.”
Hundreds of targets hit
The Israeli Armed Forces claimed to have completed the largest air operation in the country’s history, with about 200 fighter jets striking approximately 500 targets in western and central Iran, including air defense systems and missile launchers, expanding Israel’s air superiority over Iran.
An Israeli military official told reporters that US and Israeli militaries spent months building an extensive target bank in Iran and were waiting for the right moment to strike, when high-ranking Iranian officials were gathered. The official said three distinct meetings of high-ranking officials were hit simultaneously on Saturday morning.
Hours before Trump announced the death of the Supreme Leader, NPR was told by a person familiar with the attacks that Israel’s assessment was that Supreme Leader Khamenei had been hit and, subsequently, by another source with knowledge of the attacks, that he was killed in an Israeli strike.
That account contradicts what Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had previously told NBC News — that Khamenei and Iran’s president were still alive “as far as I know,” as were other high-ranking officials.
The military stated that the operation was conducted with “total synchronization and coordination” between Israeli and US armed forces.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the goal of the joint US-Israel attack is to “eliminate the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.”
“Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take the reins of their destiny,” Netanyahu said in a video.
A person familiar with the operation told NPR that it is expected to last a few days, with Israeli armed forces focusing their efforts on Iran’s missile program.
Israel closed its airspace to all passenger flights and civil defense protocols were activated. Regional military forces remain on maximum alert.
A 48-hour state of emergency was declared nationwide. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel, with authorities urging civilians to shelter in bomb shelters.
Trails of smoke streaked the sky above Tel Aviv as Israeli interception systems fired at incoming missiles. A hospital in central Israel began transferring its operations to a fortified underground complex.
In the Gulf, several countries released details about the Iranian attacks.
The Bahraini government stated that an Iranian airstrike hit the US Navy base housing the US Fifth Fleet.
The United Arab Emirates, another US ally, said it intercepted Iranian missiles. They stated that shrapnel from one of the missiles killed a citizen of an unspecified Asian country in Abu Dhabi.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Saturday afternoon that the president spoke with the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Source: npr.org