The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) issued a statement on Sunday confirming Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei death in a “precise, large-scale operation”. The statement informed that Khamenei was in his central leadership compound with other senior officials in Tehran during the deadly strikes.
“Ali Khamenei was targeted in a precise, large-scale operation carried out by the Israeli Air Force, guided by accurate IDF intelligence, while he was in his central leadership compound in the heart of Tehran, where he was together with additional senior officials,” The Times of Israel reported quoting the military’s statement.
The statement added that Khamenei “was directly responsible for the violent repression of Iranian citizens for many years.”
“Khamenei was the architect of the plan to destroy the State of Israel and was known as the ‘head of the Iranian octopus,’ extending its arms throughout the Middle East and to the borders of the State of Israel. Foremost among them was the Hezbollah terror organization. The supreme leader of the Iranian regime was responsible for terrorist attacks against the State of Israel, and the blood of many civilians from around the world was on his hands,” it said.
The military statement said that it had “brought to an end a decades-long chapter with the elimination of the leader of the Iranian terror axis.”
“His elimination joins a series of eliminations of senior members of the terror axis carried out by the IDF during the war,” it said.
The 86-year-old had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, wielding extensive authority over the country. Venerated by supporters as a divine representative, he also served as commander in chief of the armed forces and had the final say on all major state affairs.
The Iranian government on Sunday had confirmed that US-Israeli strikes had killed Khamenei, shortly after US President Donald Trump had announced his death. Iranian state news agency IRNA later said that the country’s president, the head of the judiciary, and a jurist from the Guardian Council would oversee the transition period, but did not explain what would happen next.
