Trump calls death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the ‘single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country’

The assassination of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, would throw its future into doubt and raise the prospect of a protracted conflict.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States, President Donald Trump said Saturday on social media.

Trump said his death is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.” The death occurred after a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites.

The president also said “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue “uninterrupted” through the week or longer.

There was no immediate comment from Iran. The assassination of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, would throw its future into doubt and raise the prospect of a protracted conflict given Iranian threats of retaliation.

Trump in his post called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history.”

Trump said that Khamenei “was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”

In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed when Israel struck his compound early Saturday.

Shortly after the address, two Israeli officials said Israel had confirmed his death. The officials both spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and gave no further details.

Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He had the final say on all major policies, leading Iran’s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard – the two main centers of power in the country’s theocracy.

As the attack on Iran unfolded, Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership. In a video announcing the “major combat operations,” Trump told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.

Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of the 86-year-old Khamenei. Before Israeli officials confirmed the death, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive “as far as I know.” He called the attack “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.”

The strikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, marking the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has attacked the Islamic Republic during talks over its nuclear program.

About 12 hours after the attacks began, the U.S. military reported no U.S. casualties and minimal damage at U.S. bases despite “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.” It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.

Various members of Iran’s leadership were targeted in the attack. Israel said it killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country’s defense minister. The Israeli military also said its strikes killed the secretary of the Iranian Security Council, a close adviser to Khamenei.

Israel said the strikes had targeted three locations in Tehran where intelligence had indicated that top Iranian officials were gathered. Neither Iran nor the U.S. commented on or confirmed Israel’s claims about the Iranian leadership.

Even if Iran’s top leaders are killed, regime change is not guaranteed.

Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the administration had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance.

The U.N. Security Council said it would meet Saturday afternoon. The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on X it was closely monitoring developments and had seen “no evidence of radiological impact.”

Iran was in a “near-total internet blackout,” advocacy group NetBlocks said.

Months of rising tensions

Tensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region. Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, as the country struggles with growing dissent following nationwide protests.

The trigger for Saturday’s strikes appeared to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks on Thursday. They also reflected dramatic changes that have left Iran’s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.

Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel has left Iran’s network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. U.S. sanctions and global isolation have decimated Iran’s economy.

Iran responded to the latest strikes by launching missiles and drones targeting Israel and strikes targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Israel’s military said Iran fired “dozens” of missiles at Israel, with many intercepted. Emergency responder Magen David Adom noted 89 “lightly injured” people.

At least three explosions were heard Saturday evening near the Intelligence Ministry building in northern Tehran, witnesses said, adding that air defense systems had begun operating there. Israel’s military said it had begun new strikes against missile launchers and aerial defense systems in central Iran.

In southern Iran, at least 85 people were reported killed when a girls’ school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, the local governor told Iranian state TV.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said he was “aware of reports” that a girls’ school was struck and they were looking into them.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said at least 15 people were killed in the southwest, quoting the governor of Lamerd, Ali Alizadeh, as saying a sports hall, two residential areas and a hall near a school were hit.

Flights across the Middle East were disrupted, and air defense fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ commercial capital. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the UAE capital killed one person, state media said.

Attack was coordinated between Israel and US

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