Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed on Saturday, state media confirmed, after the United States and Israel launched the most ambitious attack on Iranian targets in decades.
Iranian state media announced Khamenei’s death early on Sunday. A senior Israeli official told Reuters earlier that the Iranian leader’s body had been found after a strike, and U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States worked closely with Israel to target the man who led Iran since 1989.
Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei martyred in US-Israeli attacks on Iran pic.twitter.com/Qhu4WoDkrL
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) March 1, 2026
Iran has called the strikes unprovoked and illegal and responded with missiles fired at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host U.S. bases.
Trump, making the biggest foreign-policy gamble of his presidency after campaigning for reelection as a “peace president,” said the strikes were aimed at ending a decades-long threat from Iran and ensuring it could not develop a nuclear weapon.
‘Nothing He Could Do’
Intelligence and tracking systems monitored Khamenei’s whereabouts, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, adding that “there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”
Trump reiterated calls for Iranians to topple the government but warned: “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!”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Khamenei’s compound had been destroyed.
Three sources familiar with the matter said Iranian Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour were among those killed in the attacks.
Israel’s military said it had confirmed that five other senior military commanders were also dead, including Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader. Iranian media had said Khamenei’s daughter, grandchild, son-in-law and daughter-in-law were also killed.
Earlier reports on the martyrdom of daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter of Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei have been confirmed. pic.twitter.com/g1t3vH5pav
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) March 1, 2026
Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones in response to the attacks, but the Pentagon said there were no U.S. deaths or injuries.
Iran warned that the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage through which around a fifth of global oil consumption passes, had been closed. Traders expected a sharp jump in oil prices. Airlines cancelled flights in the Middle East.
Israel’s military said some 200 fighter jets had completed the largest flying mission in its history, hitting 500 targets throughout Iran, including strategic defence systems already damaged in strikes last year.
Eliminating Imminent Threats
In a video message on social media early on Saturday, Trump said the aim of the military campaign, which the U.S. Department of Defence named Operation Epic Fury, was “eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
The Iranian people should “take over” governance of their country, Trump said in the video. “It will be yours to take,” he said. “This will probably be your only chance for generations.”
Israeli military operations over the past two years had already killed some of Iran’s senior military officials and severely weakened several of Tehran’s once-feared proxy forces across the Middle East.
After Israel pounded Iran in a 12-day air war in June, joined by the United States, the U.S. and Israel had warned they would strike again if Iran pressed ahead with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Gulf States Attacked
Iran fired missiles at Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, all key east-west aviation gateways.
Aviation sources had told Reuters that an overnight Iranian attack damaged an airport terminal in Dubai. One of the city’s plush hotel districts was also hit.
Loud explosions sounded in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, an oil producer and close U.S. ally.
Bahrain said the service centre of the U.S. Fifth Fleet — the base for American naval forces in the region — had been subjected to a missile attack. Video footage showed a thick grey plume of smoke rising from near the island state’s coastline.
Qatar said it had downed all missiles targeting the country and that it had the right to respond. Kuwait confirmed a missile attack on a U.S. military base there.
Tehran promised a stronger response to come, with a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, Ebrahim Jabbari, saying it had so far used only “scrap missiles” and would soon unveil previously unseen weapons.
(with inputs from Reuters)
