U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced late Saturday on social media that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been killed, declaring the development “justice for the people of Iran” and for those across the world affected by what he described as decades of violence under Tehran’s leadership.
Posting on his official platform, Trump called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history” and said the Iranian leader “was unable to avoid our intelligence and highly sophisticated tracking systems.” He claimed that, working closely with Israel, there was nothing Khamenei or other top Iranian leaders could do to escape U.S. and allied operations
Trump’s statement also warned that heavy and “pinpoint bombing” would continue “uninterrupted throughout the week, or as long as necessary to achieve our objective of peace throughout the Middle East and, indeed, the world.”
“As I said last night, ‘Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death,’” Trump stated, urging Iranian security forces to merge with what he referred to as “Iranian Patriots.”
Trump also declared that heavy and “pinpoint” bombing operations would continue throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve what he termed “peace throughout the Middle East and, indeed, the world.”
He said that within a single day, Iran had been “very much destroyed and even obliterated,”
Earliet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many signs” that Khamenei was “no longer alive,” following destruction of his compound in a powerful surprise strike on Tehran, though he stopped short of providing full confirmation of death.
Despite these claims, Iranian state media and officials rejected the reports, insisting that Khamenei remains “steadfast and firm in commanding the field.” Iranian outlets cited the supreme leader’s office in Tehran as dismissing the reports as “mental warfare” by enemies seeking to sow confusion.