Iranian television confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Israeli airstrikes that targeted Iran, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his killing. The Iranian government declared 40 days of national mourning and a seven-day closure of official departments.
Reports stated that the Iranian leader was killed in his office while working on Saturday morning. Sources close to the leader’s office also confirmed that his daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, and daughter-in-law were killed in the Israeli strikes.
Khamenei, 86, took office after the death of his predecessor, Khomeini, in 1989, who had returned from exile to lead the 1979 revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Khamenei holds supreme authority over the government, military, judiciary, and media, and has the power to determine the expenditure of the country’s revenues from some of the world’s largest oil reserves. Both the United States and Israel consider him a potential target due to the nuclear threat. He has repeatedly stressed that Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon and that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.
The Iranian leader is the longest-serving ruler in the Middle East, having consolidated near-absolute control during a reign spanning approximately 37 years.
