Shafaq News- Tehran
The Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes targeting Tehran on Saturday, the state-run Iranian TV announced.
The semi-official Fars News Agency said the attack also killed Khamenei’s daughter, his son-in-law, and his granddaughter, in addition to one of his daughters-in-law.
Fars News Agency reported that the Supreme Leader was killed in the morning while performing his regular duties in his office in Tehran.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that the death of the Supreme Leader “will mark the beginning of a great uprising against the tyrants of the world.”
The Iranian government declared 40 days of national mourning and seven days as an official public holiday in honor of Khamenei, suspending state institutions and public events during the holiday period.
US President Donald Trump told CBS News when asked about Iran’s leadership after Khamenei’s death, “I know exactly who, but I can’t tell you,” adding that there were “some good candidates” he would like to see lead Iran, without providing further details.
Earlier, the Israeli army also said it killed several senior Iranian security and military officials in airstrikes targeting two locations in Tehran, including Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Defense Council, and Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Who is Khamenei?
Ali Hosseini Khamenei was born on April 19, 1939, in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad. He studied religious sciences in Mashhad and Qom, focusing on jurisprudence, Islamic philosophy, and Quranic interpretation.
Khamenei was active in opposition to the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and was arrested several times by the former regime’s security forces. He was among the clerical figures who mobilized support for the 1979 Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Following the revolution, Khamenei held several senior posts, including serving as president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. In June 1989, after the death of Ayatollah Rouhallah Khomeini, he was appointed Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This position grants him broad constitutional authority over the armed forces, judiciary, state broadcasting, and key political appointments.
As Supreme Leader, he served as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, appointed the head of the judiciary, and approved the election of the president, while also appointing half of the members of the Guardian Council, which oversees legislation and elections in Iran.