President Donald Trump confirmed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during military strikes carried out Saturday by the United States and Israel.
President Donald Trump announced the U.S. military launched strikes, identified as Operation Epic Fury, in a video posted to Truth Social early Saturday morning. Khamenei’s body was subsequently recovered, Reuters National Security Correspondent Idrees Ali reported, citing Israeli sources.
Senior israeli official to Reuters: Khamenei dead, his body has been found.
— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) February 28, 2026
Video posted on X appeared to show Khamenei’s residence had been hit during the strikes, with a woman claiming, “They hit the Supreme Leader[‘s] compound.”
Women laughing on a rooftop in Tehran: “They hit the Supreme Leader compound.”
28 Feb 2026pic.twitter.com/W0XxueBDg9— Khosro K Isfahani (@KhosroIsfahani) February 28, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were increasing indications that Khamenei did not survive in earlier remarks to the Israeli people on Saturday.
“Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed his country with an update, saying that the Israelis targeted the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei. And Netanyahu goes on to say there are many signs that he is no longer,” Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst reported. “Again, not confirmation that he was killed, but the Israelis think they were successful in the strike against Iran’s Supreme Leader.”
During a Saturday interview with NBC News, Trump appeared to concur with the Israeli assessment.
“We feel that that is a correct story,” Trump reportedly said, adding, “The people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone.”
Trump later confirmed Khamenei’s death in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS,” Trump posted. “He 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 who have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us.”
“As I said last night, ‘Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!’ Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves,” Trump continued. “That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, 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! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Fox News National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that between five and 10 other leadership figures in Iran’s theocratic regime were also killed in the strike.
In January 2026, Khamenei issued multiple threats against Trump on social media, including depicting the president in a coffin. Trump told NewsNation host Katie Pavlich in a Jan. 21 interview that, if Khamenei’s threat were ever carried out, the United States would “wipe [Iran] off the face of this earth.”
Trump previously warned Iran not to harm protesters who oppose the regime, including threatening action if the regime hanged demonstrators who had been arrested. While Iran reportedly didn’t hang any of the 800 protesters Trump referenced, the theocratic regime’s forces have allegedly killed thousands of others.
In June 2025, the United States bombed multiple facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, which reportedly supported Iran’s nuclear weapons program, dropping as many as 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators. The operation, which involved a 37-hour flight by seven United States Air Force B-2A Spirit bombers, inflicted significant damage to Iran’s nuclear program with no American losses.
Khamenei, a follower of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, became involved in anti-Shah activism from the 1960s, according to his official biography. After the 1979 Revolution, he held multiple positions before becoming president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
After Khomenei’s death in 1989, Khamenei was named Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Council of Experts. During his tenure, multiple protests against his regime were violently suppressed, and Iranian proxies carried out terrorist attacks against Israel.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include President Trump’s confirmation of the death of Khamenei, as well as additional details.
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