Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the “Supreme Leader” of Iran, is dead, according to President Donald Trump. Speculation throughout the day was that he might have been killed in the initial strikes of Operation Epic Fury, the joint assault by the US and Israel that began at 9 a.m. local time, or just after midnight Eastern.
Trump wrote 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. 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 that 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. 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.
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”
Israel had reported a couple of hours earlier that intelligence indicated Khamenei had been killed, but Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi contradicted those reports, saying that only a couple of commanders might have been killed, and that it wasn’t a big problem. The Ayatollah was still alive “as far as I know,” he said. Even now, Iran’s Tasnim and Mehr news agencies report that Khamenei remains “steadfast and firm in commanding the field.”
