Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in the joint US-Israeli strikes that hit Tehran on Saturday, February 28, 2026, according to multiple Israeli and US officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the compound of what he called the tyrant Ali Khamenei had been destroyed in the heart of Tehran in a powerful surprise strike, adding that there were many signs the leader was no longer alive. A photograph of Khamenei's body, retrieved from the rubble of his residence, was shown to Netanyahu, according to Israeli intelligence sources cited by Axios. President Donald Trump told NBC News and ABC that he felt certain the reports of Khamenei's death were correct, stating that the people who make all the decisions in Iran, most of them are gone.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that seven senior Iranian officials were killed in coordinated strikes that hit three separate gatherings of regime leadership simultaneously. Among the dead are Ali Shamkhani, a longtime senior advisor to Khamenei, General Mohammad Pakpour, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri. Approximately 200 Israeli fighter jets struck around 500 targets across western and central Iran under the Israeli operation codenamed Roaring Lion, while the Pentagon designated the US component as Operation Epic Fury. The strikes targeted aerial defense systems, missile launchers, government compounds and military installations across Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Tabriz, Kermanshah and other cities.
Iran has denied the reports of Khamenei's death. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News on Saturday morning that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were still alive as far as he knew. Iranian state media claimed the Supreme Leader remained firmly in command. Pezeshkian's son Yusuf later confirmed that his father survived what he described as an assassination attempt, stating that the president was safe and sound. Despite the denials from Tehran, celebrations erupted in parts of the Iranian capital after reports of Khamenei's demise spread, with witnesses describing loud cheers echoing across neighborhoods and residents taking to their windows to applaud and play music starting around 11 PM local time.
The human toll of the day's strikes has been devastating. The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported at least 201 people killed and 747 injured across Iran by Saturday evening. In one of the most tragic incidents, Israeli strikes hit two schools in the southern city of Minab, killing at least 64 students at a girls' primary school and injuring 92 others. Iran responded with waves of ballistic missiles and drones targeting Israel and US military installations across the Persian Gulf. In Tel Aviv, 16 people were wounded including one critically. Drones struck residential areas of Dubai, injuring four people, while one person was killed in Abu Dhabi. In Syria, Iranian missile debris fell on a residential building in Suwayda, killing four civilians.
The reported elimination of Khamenei and much of Iran's senior military and political leadership represents the most significant decapitation strike against a sovereign nation's government in modern history. Oil markets reacted with Brent crude rising over two percent to approximately 73 dollars per barrel, with analysts at Barclays warning prices could reach 80 dollars if tensions escalate further. The military operation is expected to continue for several days according to US officials, with Trump having called on the Iranian people to take over their government and offering immunity to members of the armed forces who lay down their weapons. The situation remains highly fluid, with Iran vowing a crushing response and the full extent of the damage to the regime's command structure still emerging.
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