There are indications that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, may have been killed in the US-Israel joint airstrikes on Tehran Sarturday.

US president told NBC News “we feel certain” that the supreme leader is dead. “We feel that is correct,” he said.

Fox News also quoted a US official as saying the United States believes Khamenei and five to 10 top Iranian leaders were killed in an initial Israeli strike.

This claim, however, contradicts earlier assertion by the Iranian authorities which claimed that Khamenei was safe after the attack as he was not in Tehran as at the time of the airstrikes.

But Khamenei has not been seen in public or in videos since the strikes began.
Iran International, a local news agency, separately confirmed the report, saying that, at least, four senior Iranian Intelligence Ministry officials were also killed in airstrikes on Saturday.

According to Reuters, Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, was killed during Saturday’s attacks. Several IRGC commanders were also killed in the strikes, Reuters said.

Also two Israeli sources familiar with the matter confirmed that Khamenei was killed in the strikes.

One of the sources said Israel had obtained a photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s dead body. The second source said an official announcement is being prepared.

Earlier in the evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a video message that there are many signs that Khamenei is “no longer with us.”

Meanwhile, President Trump said Iran would need several years to recover from joint US-Israeli strikes, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12.

In a phone conversation with a Channel 12 reporter, Trump said he could keep the campaign going as long as he wanted or end it within days.

He warned that the United States would strike again if Iran tried to rebuild and accused Tehran of backing away from reaching a nuclear deal, adding that he had concluded Tehran was not seriously seeking an agreement.

Trump also described his call earlier in the day with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as positive, the network reported.

Iran to deliver US and Israel unforgettable lesson, Larijani says

“We will make the Zionist criminals and the vile Americans regret it,” Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani said in a post on his X on Saturday.

“The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hell-bound oppressors of the international order,” he added.