Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in Israeli air strikes, according to the country’s intelligence service.
The Ayatollah’s body was recovered from rubble, riddled with shrapnel wounds, after his Tehran compound was struck by as many as 30 bombs on Saturday.
Photographic proof of the successful assassination was shown to Donald Trump, the US president, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
Mr Trump told NBC News the White House felt it was a “correct story” that Khamenei had been killed, along with “a large number” of the regime’s leaders.
The death represents the most serious blow to the Iranian regime since the revolution of 1979, when the ayatollahs swept into power.
The Ayatollah’s body is said to have been found in the rubble of his Tehran compound
The US and Israel urged Iranians to force regime change, and some Iranians took to the streets of Tehran on Saturday night in celebration.
Israel carried out a strike on Khamenei’s compound in the opening salvo of attacks on Iran on Saturday morning.
On Saturday night, Iran was firing missiles and drones at civilian targets across the Middle East after the offensive against the Islamic regime.
A five-star hotel in Dubai, several residential buildings in Bahrain and Kuwait’s international airport were struck as Tehran retaliated with a barrage of drones and ballistic missiles.
Credit: X/@adrianopmi and @ruperttait
Mohammad Pakpour, the chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and Amir Nasirzadeh, its defence minister, were also killed in strikes expected to last several days.
The assault was the largest military flyover in the history of the Israeli air force, targeting military bases, nuclear sites and government buildings across Iran.
Mr Trump monitored the operation from Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home, where he announced the beginning of the operation, named Epic Fury.
He said: “For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted ‘Death to America’ and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed.
“Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world. They can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Addressing Iranians, Mr Trump told troops to lay down their weapons or face certain death and called on the Iranian people to start an uprising and take control of the government.
“I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said in a video posted on Truth Social.
Credit: Truth Social/ @realDonaldTrump
Mr Trump said the joint attack would last “as long as needed”, unleashing a wave of strikes that threatened to destabilise the region.
As explosions rocked Tehran and other cities, the regime vowed to carry out a “crushing” retaliation, firing missiles towards Israel and US bases in five neighbouring Gulf states.
Iran struck the US navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, the most vulnerable of American bases, while debris rained down from the skies above the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan.
Jordan said it “dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles.
Credit: X/@Osinttechnical
The luxury Fairmont Palm hotel in Dubai was engulfed in flames on Saturday night after being struck by a Shahed suicide drone.
Four people were injured, and there are fears that Britons staying at the hotel, which has 391 luxury guest rooms, could be among those hurt or even killed.
Flights across the Middle East were disrupted and air defence fire thundered over Dubai. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, killed one person, state media said.
The US had amassed a substantial strike force in the region while pressing Iran to cease its nuclear programme in negotiations that failed to reach an agreement on Thursday.
Sir Keir Starmer, under pressure to explain if Britain had allowed the US to use Diego Garcia, the military base of the Chagos Islands, said the UK was not involved in the attack.
“Iran can end this now,” he said in a televised address. “They should refrain from further strikes, give up their weapons programme and cease the appalling violence and repression against the Iranian people.”
Israeli air force fighter jets dropped hundreds of munitions, targeting approximately 500 objectives in several locations in Iran, including air defence systems and missile launchers.
One of the strikes targeted a site in Tabriz, western Iran. The site was used by the Iranian surface-to-surface missiles unit, which had planned to launch dozens of missiles from the site toward Israeli civilians.
The timing of the US attack is no coincidence. Mr Trump’s approval ratings are at their lowest and, with the midterm elections looming, Republicans are at risk of losing the House.
With control hanging in the balance, the president hopes a decisive blow against a foreign aggressor will help his party cling to power.
A plume of smoke rises above Tehran after US and Israeli strikes on Iran – AP
Iran’s defence ministry said it would provide weapons and equipment to continue its operation “until the enemy’s defeat”.
“As in the past, we will continue to provide complete weapons and equipment support to the brave fighters of the great Iranian nation for the continuation of ‘True promise four’ operations and the defeat of enemies,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
The IRGC blocked passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital oil export route in a move that risks inflating global oil prices.
The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A third of worldwide oil exports transported by sea passed through the strait in 2025.
Mr Netanyahu later spoke to Mr Trump on the phone but details of the decision to strike Iran remained a closely guarded secret.
Israeli officials told Axios that Israel had targeted Khamenei’s sons, although intelligence suggests they survived the strikes.
Mr Trump told Axios on Saturday that he had several diplomatic “off-ramps” from the operation, which continued into Sunday.
He said: “I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians ‘see you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programmes]’. In any case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack.”
In the aftermath of the attack, Mr Trump spoke with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary-general, according to Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.
By Saturday night, the president had not shared details of the strikes and the urgency behind them with the public.
Iran had said it hoped to avert a war, but maintained its right to enrich uranium. It did not want to discuss other issues such as its long-range missile programme or support for armed groups including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Iran claims it has not enriched uranium since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites the US bombed during Operation Midnight Hammer last summer.
Satellite photos analysed by media outlets have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material.
Mr Trump had threatened military action but held off following Iran’s recent crackdown on protests spurred by economic grievances that evolved into a nationwide push against the ruling clerics. More than 7,000 people are estimated to have been killed.
Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch backed the strikes on Iran, while Left-wing politicians claimed that they were in breach of international law.
Mr Farage, the leader of Reform UK, urged the Prime Minister to allow the use of British military bases and “support the Americans in this vital fight”.
Mrs Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said she “stands with our allies in the US and Israel” as they “take on the threat” of Iran.
The US Secret Service and FBI said they were in a heightened state of alert for an attack by Iranian proxies and sleeper cells which are feared to have been embedded across America.
As darkness fell over the region, US and Israeli air forces began the second stage of the mission, continuing strikes deep into the night.
Video footage circulating on social media showed Iranians celebrating the supreme leader’s death, with people cheering in the streets despite the near-total internet blackout.
Additional reporting by Lily Shanagher
