TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s state media confirmed early Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a massive, coordinated airstrike by the United States and Israel, marking the most dramatic escalation of conflict in the Middle East in decades and plunging the region into a perilous new phase.
The strikes, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury” by the US Department of Defense, targeted senior leadership and strategic military sites across Iran late Saturday. State television, now under the control of hardliners, announced Khamenei’s death in a solemn broadcast, reading a statement from the government that blamed “the criminal, Zionist-American alliance.” A senior Israeli official told Reuters earlier that the leader’s body had been located following a precision strike on a compound in northern Tehran.
US President Donald Trump confirmed the operation in a post on Truth Social, stating that intelligence and tracking systems had successfully monitored Khamenei’s whereabouts. “There was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump wrote. He framed the attack as the culmination of a decades-long effort to neutralize the Iranian regime’s influence, asserting that the goal was to ensure Iran could not develop a nuclear weapon.
The strike force appeared to have decimated the upper echelons of Iran’s military command. Three sources familiar with the situation confirmed that Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Major General Mohammad Pakpour were also killed. Israel’s military confirmed that five other senior commanders were dead, including Ali Shamkhani, a former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and a key adviser to Khamenei.
In a grim confirmation of the strikes’ precision, Iranian media reported that Khamenei’s immediate family was not spared. His daughter, son-in-law, and a grandchild were among those killed in the attack that destroyed a wing of a leadership complex in the capital. A separate strike on a military installation in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas killed Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force, according to reports.
The explosions, which rocked Tehran and several provincial capitals, sent a wave of panic through the population. In the northern city of Tabriz, a weeping mother of two named Minou told Reuters by phone, “We are scared, we are terrified. My children are shaking, we have nowhere to go, we will die here.”
However, the reaction was not uniform. Witnesses reported that some Iranians took to the streets in parts of Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj, and the central city of Isfahan to celebrate the news of Khamenei’s death, chanting slogans against the regime. Unverified videos on social media showed similar celebrations in other locations, underscoring the deep political divisions within the country.
The human cost extended beyond the political elite. A local prosecutor cited by state media reported that a girls’ primary school in the southern town of Minab was hit, killing 85 people. Reuters could not independently verify the report, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the specific incident.
Iran swiftly retaliated, launching a barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones towards Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host US military bases. The Pentagon stated there were no US deaths or injuries from the initial wave of Iranian fire, but the attack signaled Tehran’s willingness to widen the conflict.
In a high-stakes economic move, Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint through which about a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption passes. Traders braced for a sharp spike in global oil prices, and major airlines immediately cancelled all flights over Iranian and neighboring airspace.
Israel’s military said its component of the operation was the largest flying mission in its history, with some 200 fighter jets hitting approximately 500 targets. These included strategic defense systems that had reportedly been damaged in previous strikes last year, as well as suspected nuclear facility infrastructure and missile depots.
President Trump, who campaigned for reelection as a “peace president,” framed the massive military action as a necessity. In a video message, he called on the Iranian people to “take over” the governance of their country. “This will be probably your only chance for generations,” he warned, while also cautioning that the bombing campaign would continue. “The heavy and pinpoint bombing… will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
The operation came just days after the latest round of negotiations between US and Iranian officials. Senior US officials stated that Tehran had been unwilling to abandon its ability to enrich uranium, which Washington views as a pathway to a bomb, despite Tehran’s insistence on its need for civilian nuclear energy.
The strike drew swift international condemnation. During an emergency UN Security Council meeting, Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya accused the US and Israel of stabbing Iran “in the back” while it was engaged in diplomacy. Along with China, he called for restraint and criticized the justification for the attacks. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate cessation of all hostilities, warning of a “catastrophic regional conflagration.”
At home, Trump faced immediate pushback from opposition Democrats and a handful of fellow Republicans, who argued that a prolonged military campaign against Iran would be illegal without explicit congressional approval. Lawmakers signaled they would demand a vote within days.
As Iran grapples with the power vacuum and mourns its dead, the world watches to see who will emerge to lead the Islamic Republic and whether its promised retaliation will trigger a wider, uncontainable war.
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