The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) confirmed on the night of March 1 that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had died. There are reports of the deaths of several members of his family.
This is reported on the IRNA website.
According to media reports, Khamenei was “martyred after an attack by the Zionist regime and the United States” on the morning of February 28.
“Indeed, we belong to God and to Him we shall return. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran has died,” the agency said on social media.
The Fars news agency, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also said that Ali Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law, grandson and one of his daughters-in-law were killed.
The government declared 40 days of national mourning and 7 days of official holidays.
Earlier, United States President Donald Trump wrote about Khamenei's death.
On February 28, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message that there were “many signs” that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was “no longer there.”
In turn, Reuters and the Israeli newspaper Times of Israel, citing their own sources among Israeli officials, reported that Khamenei's body was found after the IDF airstrikes on Tehran.
Israeli and US military operation against Iran
On February 28, Israel attacked the Iranian capital, Tehran. US President Donald Trump later said that the US military had launched a “major combat operation” against Iran to “eliminate imminent threats from the Iranian regime”. He accused the Iranian government of “funding and training” militants in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Hamas in Palestine. According to him, the aim of the military operation is to “destroy the missile industry, the navy” and “ensure that the world cannot be destabilised”.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched missiles and drones towards Israel, and also attacked US military bases in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The United Kingdom, which currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, convened an emergency meeting of the Security Council on February 28 at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, China, and Russia.
The European Union said it reaffirmed its “unwavering commitment to ensuring regional security and stability” in the Middle East.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, commenting on events in the Middle East, said that it is fair to give the Iranians a chance to get rid of the “terrorist regime and guarantee the security of all peoples who have suffered from attacks from Iran.”
Trump later announced that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was dead.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said that at least seven senior Iranian officials were killed in airstrikes on Iran. Among them were Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour.