Iran’s Khamenei is dead, Israeli security officials say
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his Tehran compound, according to four Israeli security officials briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. One of the people familiar said that Khamenei’s body was found in the rubble following the strike.
U.S. officials said they did not immediately have confirmation of Khamenei’s death.
Khamenei has been Iran’s leader since 1989, and killing him was a major goal of the U.S.-Israeli operation launched earlier Saturday against Iranian military and security targets.
Earlier on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were growing indications that Khamenei “is no longer with us.”