The announcement, broadcast on Iranian state television, confirmed that the 86-year-old leader was killed at his office during the Israeli-US attacks that began in the early hours of Saturday.
Iranian state media on Sunday confirmed that the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has been killed following coordinated strikes by the United States and Israel, plunging the Islamic Republic into one of the most uncertain and volatile moments in its modern history.
The announcement, broadcast on Iranian state television, confirmed that the 86-year-old leader was killed at his office during the Israeli-US attacks that began in the early hours of Saturday.
Authorities immediately declared a 40-day national mourning period in honor of the longtime leader who had ruled Iran since 1989.
The confirmation came hours after conflicting reports from Iranian outlets.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim and Mehr news agencies had insisted that Khamenei remained steadfast and firm in commanding the field, dismissing initial foreign claims of his death.
However, the narrative shifted dramatically when state television formally acknowledged that the Supreme Leader had indeed been killed in the strikes.
United States President Donald Trump had earlier taken to his Truth Social platform to announce Khamenei’s death, claiming that American intelligence capabilities, working in coordination with Israel, ensured the success of the operation.
“He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump wrote.
The US president described the assassination as a turning point for Iran, framing it as an opportunity for internal political transformation.
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” he said. “Hopefully, the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier hinted that Khamenei may have been killed, telling reporters there were “growing signs” that the Iranian leader had not survived the strikes.
The Reuters news agency, citing an unnamed senior Israeli official, also reported that Khamenei’s body had been located, though Iranian authorities did not initially confirm the report until the state television broadcast.
Khamenei had served as Iran’s Supreme Leader since 1989, succeeding Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the Western-backed Shah.
As Supreme Leader, Khamenei wielded ultimate authority over Iran’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches. He served as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, controlled the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and acted as the country’s highest spiritual authority.
His death now opens a constitutional and political process that has long been planned but never activated under such circumstances.
Iranian authorities had reportedly developed contingency arrangements in the event of Khamenei’s assassination during a potential war with the US or Israel. However, the actual implementation of such plans under active conflict conditions injects enormous uncertainty into the situation.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, said Iran is unlikely to be caught entirely off guard.
“There will probably be a council that will be set up to run the country. It may already have been running the country, as far as we know,” she added.
