US President Donald Trump confirmed the death of the Supreme Leader at the Truth Social on Saturday.
“Khameni, one of the most evil men in history, is dead,” he wrote.
Trump said the 86-year-old leader of Iran’s Islamic regime — which has held power in the country’s theocratic system for decades — was killed in a US strike earlier on Saturday.
Iranian state media later confirmed Khamenei’s death.
“This is justice not only for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans and the people of many countries around the world, people killed or maimed by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs,” the statement continued.
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The statement came after the United States and Israel carried out major military strikes in Iran earlier Saturday.
In an earlier video posted to TruthSocial, Trump said the “massive” operation was intended to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and “eliminate imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
As he launched the bombing on Saturday, Trump called on the Iranians to “take over your government. It’s yours. It’s probably your only chance for a generation.”
The first strikes on Saturday morning targeted areas in downtown Tehran, including locations associated with Iran’s leadership.
Reuters reported that the strikes also hit some civilian infrastructure, including an all-girls school, where more than 100 people were killed.
Tehran responded to the attacks by firing missiles at nearby Gulf Arab states, including Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Iranian officials had previously warned that they would attack the region during the attack.
Trump cited Washington’s decades-long dispute with Iran, including the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 when 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days, as well as other attacks blamed on Iran by the United States administration.
— Aaron D’Andrea of Global News and with files from The Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
(tags to translate)Iran
