Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei Killed, Senior Israeli Official Says
February 28 (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who transformed the country into a powerful anti-U.S. force and spread his military influence across the Middle East while suppressing repeated civil unrest, was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes, a senior Israeli official told Reuters on Saturday.
There is no confirmation yet from Iran regarding his fate.
USA and Israel carried out a military operation Attacks on Iran The attack on their top leaders on Saturday plunged the Middle East into a conflict that President Donald Trump said would end the security threat to the United States and give the Iranians a chance to overthrow their rulers.
Khamenei, 86, became Iran’s highest authority in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. As the religious leader, he retained ultimate control over Iran’s political, military and religious institutions, shaping domestic policy and directing foreign relations.
Israel has long viewed it as a destabilizing force in the Middle East, citing its support for Iran’s network of militant allies, including Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. In June 2025, when Israel and Iran waged a 12-day air war, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to assassinate Iran, saying the religious leader “cannot continue to exist.”
This war saw Israel launch a surprise attack that struck Iran’s underground nuclear facility, killing top commanders and nuclear scientists and eliminating most of the military leadership. Khamenei’s killing dealt a new blow to the country, which was already in the grip of war and economic distress.
By supporting the conservative vision of his predecessor Khomeini, Khamenei suppressed the ambitions of elected presidents who sought more open policies at home and abroad. Under his rule, authorities cracked down on recurring protests and pushed aside reformists who pressed for less confrontation with the West.
Under Khamenei, Iran has become a powerful regional anti-US power and has spread its influence throughout the Middle East. He supported the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani that briefly eased Iran’s isolation. But tensions rose after US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal and reimposed sanctions in 2018.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Iran has seen its allies weakened. While Hamas and Hezbollah received heavy blows from Israel, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who had long been supported by Tehran, was overthrown in December 2024.
The office of Religious Leader was created after the 1979 revolution and is enshrined in Iran’s constitution, giving a senior cleric ultimate authority over the president and parliament. The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member religious body vetted by a strict watchdog close to Khamenei, officially elects the leader.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell, writing by Ahmed Elimam and Hatem Maher)
