President Donald Trump said Saturday that U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top leaders.
“Most of the people who make all the decisions are gone,” Trump told NBC News in a phone call, adding that “a large number of leaders” in Iran were also killed, although he declined to go into further detail.
Shortly after the call, Trump posted on Truth Social that Khamenei had been killed in US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,” he wrote. “This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans, and those people from many countries around the world, who have been killed or maimed by Khamenei and his band of bloodthirsty MATOS.”
Iranian state media appears to have questioned Khamenei’s death, calling an unspecified claim by Trump “baseless” and saying the US president “has a long history of spreading fake and fabricated news.” Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghachi said Khamenei was alive “as far as I know.”
NBC News asked Trump who will be Iran’s next leader. Trump responded, “I don’t know, but at some point they’re going to call me and ask who I’d like,” adding that he was “just being a little sarcastic when I say that.”
“But look, it’s going very well. You know, we’re probably in terms of zero to 10. We’re close to 10th place, if not there, and so far it’s been going well, but we’ve got a ways to go. Tremendous damage has been inflicted. The leadership is gone,” he said. “Big, big chunks of leadership.”
The president, who has been monitoring joint US-Israel operations from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, announced “major combat operations” in Iran in a video statement posted to his Truth Social account early Saturday morning.
“Our goal is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a ruthless group of very tough and terrible people. Their threatening activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases abroad, and our allies around the world,” he said, while warning that these attacks could result in American deaths or casualties.
He also urged Iranian citizens to take charge of their government, saying: “It will be yours. This will probably be your only chance for generations.”
The attacks, part of Operation Epic Fury, began at 1:15 a.m. ET, according to US Central Command. “Targets included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields,” CENTCOM said.
The strikes were launched from air, land and sea, he added, and the United States also used “low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat.”
They came after talks on Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities failed to reach a diplomatic deal this week.
Most Republican members of Congress praised the attacks, but Democrats, along with Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul, both Kentucky Republicans, expressed outrage that Trump acted unilaterally without congressional approval. Some of these critical lawmakers said Saturday that they plan to force a vote on war powers in the House next week.
Asked by NBC News how he will know if the operation was done and a success, Trump said: “I think it’s already a success. We’ve inflicted tremendous damage. It would take them years to rebuild.”
