Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, is dead, Trump says

[ad_1] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme chief of Iran, was killed within the U.S.-Israeli assault on the nation Saturday, President Donald Trump stated.

"This isn't solely Justice for the folks of Iran, however for all Nice Individuals, and people folks from many International locations all through the World, which were killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS," Trump stated in a social media publish.

Iranian state TV confirmed Khamenei's dying Saturday evening.

Khamenei, 86, had led Iran because the 1989 dying of its founding supreme chief, Ruhollah Khomeini, who dominated the nation for 10 years after toppling the nation's final shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

<img alt="PHOTO: A picture released by the office of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 20, 2014, shows him addressing the nation on the occasion of Noruz, the Iranian New Year, in Tehran. " class="hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI " data-testid="prism-image" draggable="false" loading="lazy" src="https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/c1274399-08e0-4042-828e-0a1f08783e91/khamenei-04-gty-jt-260228_1772315998943_hpMain.jpg"/> An image launched by the workplace of Iran's supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 20, 2014, reveals him addressing the nation on the event of Noruz, the Iranian New Yr, in Tehran. Witnesses stated on Feb. 28, 2026, that loud cheers echoed throughout elements of Tehran and residents took to their home windows to applaud and play celebratory music after stories of Iranian supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's dying.

KHAMENEI.IR through AFP through Getty Pictures

Khamenei had vowed throughout the Iran-Israel battle of 2025 that Iran wouldn't give up.

"Struggle will likely be met with warfare, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike. Iran is not going to undergo any calls for or dictates," Khamenei stated in feedback revealed on June 17, 2025, by Tasnim, Iran's semiofficial state information company.

Earlier than his decades-long rule as Iran's supreme chief, Khamenei served because the nation's president from 1981 to 1989.

He was hand-picked by Khomeini to succeed him.

On this June 26, 2025, handout picture, Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seems amongst his supporters for the primary time because the Iran-Israel warfare, in Tehran, Iran.

Workplace of the Supreme Chief of Iran through Getty Pictures

The supreme chief is "successfully Iran's chief for all times, per the structure," in accordance with the D.C.-based suppose tank Council on Overseas Relations.

It's unclear who will succeed Khamenei, as no successor has been publicly named.

Trump has additionally indicated he expects his administration may have say over putting in new management in Iran, however he has not publicly shared a plan for what ought to occur subsequent and the scenario within the nation stays unstable.

Born in Mashhad, Iran, Khamenei studied to be a cleric earlier than turning into a key determine within the Iranian revolution. He was arrested and exiled for 3 years throughout the reign of Pahlavi, the final shah of Iran, who was deposed and exiled in 1979.