Iraqi Shiites carry a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran flags during a protest against US and Israeli attacks on Iran at a bridge leading to Green Zone where the US embassy is located, in Baghdad on February 28, 2026. Several hundred people protested against the US-Israeli strikes on Iran near the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, AFP journalists said. (AFP)
Iraqi Shiites carry a portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran flags during a protest against US and Israeli attacks on Iran at a bridge leading to Green Zone where the US embassy is located, in Baghdad on February 28, 2026. Several hundred people protested against the US-Israeli strikes on Iran near the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, AFP journalists said. (AFP)

Trump said on social media that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead, saying his passing is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.” The death occurred after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites.

The president also said “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue “uninterrupted” through the week or longer.

Trump in his post called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history.” Trump said that Khamenei “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 that have been killed along with him, could do.”

In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed when Israel struck his compound early Saturday.

Shortly after the address, two Israeli officials said Israel had confirmed his death. The officials both spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and gave no further details.

Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He had the final say on all major policies, leading Iran’s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard – the two main centers of power in the country’s theocracy.

As the attack on Iran unfolded, President Donald Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership. In a video announcing the “major combat operations,” Trump told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.” Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.

Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of the 86-year-old Khamenei. Before Israeli officials confirmed the death, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive “as far as I know." He called the attack “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.” The strikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan opened a stunning new chapter in US intervention in Iran, marking the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has attacked the Islamic Republic during talks over its nuclear program.

About 12 hours after the attacks began, the US military reported no US casualties and minimal damage at US bases despite “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.” It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields. (AP)