Ayatollah Khamenei Reportedly Killed in Joint U.S.-Israeli Attack, Trump Declares

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead following a large-scale military operation carried out by the United States and Israel, according to President Donald Trump and multiple Israeli officials. A senior U.S. intelligence source also confirmed the development.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Mr. Trump posted on social media.

The president said signs of internal fracture are emerging within Iran’s security apparatus. He stated the U.S. is “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.”

Despite the reported breakthrough, military action is set to continue. Mr. Trump wrote that 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!”

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to what he described as “growing signs” that Khamenei is “gone.” In a phone interview with NBC News, Mr. Trump said he had “spoken to a lot of people beyond and we feel certain, we feel, we feel that that is a correct story.”

He added that Khamenei “killed many people” and has “destroyed a country.”

“The people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone,” he said.

Israel’s military announced that seven Iranian commanders were killed in the strike, including Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Khamenei. Iran now faces uncertainty as questions mount over who will assume leadership of a nation left politically shaken and militarily strained.