Ayatollah ‘taken out in 30-bomb barrage’ as America and Israel hit 500 targets in Operation Epic Fury: Trump tells Iranians: ‘Your hour of freedom is at hand’

Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed to have been killed after a devastating barrage of 30 bombs destroyed his compound in Tehran.

The airstrike was part of an audacious plan to eliminate the entire leadership of the murderous regime and signaled the beginning of a major offensive by the United States and Israel this weekend that will plunge the entire Middle East into regional conflict.

On Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “many signs” that 86-year-old Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader for 37 years, was killed in an attack that destroyed a number of buildings in the compound where key regime leaders meet.

It was reported that his body was among those recovered from the rubble.

Israeli television networks reported that a photo of the body was shown to Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump on Saturday night.

Less than two hours after the first explosions devastated Tehran, Iran launched a wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Israel, Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

A fire broke out at the entrance of the luxury Palm Jumeirah Fairmont Hotel in Dubai as a result of the crash of the Iranian Shahed unmanned aerial vehicle.

In Bahrain, another Iranian attack plane crashed into a tower block hours after drones struck the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Videos showed a massive explosion that billowed black smoke from a port that serves as a key U.S. command center.

Thousands of Britons were stranded in the Middle East as airports were closed amid clashes that escalated dramatically on Saturday night.

On a very important and fast moving day:

• In an extraordinary joint operation, the United States and Israel hit more than 500 targets across Iran;
• President Trump called on Iranians to rise up to overthrow the tyrannical mullahs and declared: ‘The hour of your freedom is near’;
• Keir Starmer announced that British aircraft were ‘in the skies’ as part of ‘defense operations to protect our people, our interests and our allies’;
• Iranian defense minister Amir Nasserzadeh and Mohammad Pakpour, commander of Iran’s feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were reportedly killed in the first wave of attacks;
• According to Israeli media, Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, who was expected to succeed his father, is believed to have been killed;
• It was said that ships were prevented from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important routes for oil exports, by Iran;
• Iranian officials claimed that 85 people were killed in an attack by the United States or Israel on a girls’ school in southern Iran.

In an eight-minute video posted on social media on Saturday morning, President Trump announced the start of “major combat operations” against Iran and warned that “the lives of brave American heroes could be lost.”

Wearing a white baseball cap with the word USA emblazoned on it, he promised to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program and devastate its military, adding: ‘It’s a very simple message: they will never have nuclear weapons.’

U.S. officials said their military has carried out dozens of strikes using attack aircraft launched from bases in the Middle East and at least one aircraft carrier.

Explosions were seen and heard in various parts of the Iranian capital, smoke rising over residential areas

Tomahawk cruise missiles were also believed to have been fired from an armada of US warships. The Israeli military said nearly 200 warplanes took part in a ‘comprehensive attack’ and the raids were the largest in the history of its air force.

The first wave of the operation, which the US calls Epic Rage, is believed to have been launched with the aim of ‘decapitating’ Iran’s leadership.

Intelligence sources stated that key figures of the regime met in three places, including Khamenei’s compound, on Saturday morning and that they were targeted simultaneously. The attacks are said to have been given the green light after intelligence agents in Iran confirmed that senior leadership was in place.

Extraordinary videos showed Iranians celebrating as fire and smoke billowed from the central Tehran compound used as Khamenei’s residence and the main building hosting officials. In a report by Channel 12 in Israel, it was stated that the facility was hit by a 30-bomb attack.

Khamenei was said to be in an underground building, but not in one of the two deepest bunkers.

Following the attack, an Iranian official insisted that the Supreme Leader was not in Tehran at the time of the attack.

But in a statement on Saturday night, Netanyahu said: ‘For thirty-five years this cruel dictator has terrorized the world… and is constantly, relentlessly working on his plan to destroy Israel. This plan is gone. And there are many signs that this dictator is gone too.’

Minutes after the destruction of Khamenei’s compound, explosions occurred in the neighborhood where the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Defense, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and Iran’s former hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lived.

Vehicles burned in Tehran on Saturday following Israeli and US airstrikes

A startling video showed 21 Tomahawk missiles screaming low over the Iranian countryside on their way to hit targets in the capital.

Elsewhere, a staggering 20 of Iran’s 31 provinces are believed to have been hit in subsequent attacks; Attacks were also reported in the cities of Bushehr, Qom, Karaj, Kermanshah and Isfahan.

Israel said it expected the attack to last several days.

Iran immediately promised an ‘overwhelming’ response. It first launched a missile bombardment against Israel, most of which was intercepted, and then launched a series of missiles and so-called “suicide” drones into the Middle East.

At 11:10 a.m., at least three drones crashed into an area near the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Manama, Bahrain, causing a large cloud of black smoke to rise over the port.

The facility is close to the UK Naval Support Facility, which hosts dozens of British personnel. There are not believed to be any British casualties.

Hours later, after dark, another Shahed drone crashed into a 37-story residential skyscraper in Bahrain.

Extraordinary video footage showed a massive fireball exploding towards the top of the high-rise building, sending debris flying and falling into the surroundings below.

Meanwhile, 500 miles away in Dubai, home to more than 240,000 Britons, Iranian missiles and drones rained down on luxury hotels and shopping districts.

One of the bullets landed near the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.