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Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reportedly killed during a joint U.S.-Israeli operation on Saturday, according to a statement from President Donald Trump.
In a social media announcement, Trump stated, “This action delivers justice not only for the Iranian people but also honors countless Americans and individuals worldwide who suffered under Khamenei’s regime and his band of ruthless operatives.”
As of now, Iranian authorities have not officially confirmed the demise of Khamenei.
At 86, Khamenei had been the guiding force of Iran since 1989, succeeding the country’s first supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, who rose to power after overthrowing the last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
During the Iran-Israel conflict in 2025, Khamenei asserted that Iran would never capitulate.
“War will be met with war, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike. Iran will not submit to any demands or dictates,” Khamenei said in comments published on June 17, 2025, by Tasnim, Iran’s semiofficial state news agency.
Iran live updates: Trump confirms Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead
Before his decades-long rule as Iran’s supreme leader, Khamenei served as the country’s president from 1981 to 1989.
He was hand-picked by Khomeini to succeed him.
The supreme leader is “effectively Iran’s leader for life, per the constitution,” according to the D.C.-based think tank Council on Foreign Relations.
It is unclear who will succeed Khamenei, as no successor has been publicly named.
Trump has also indicated he expects his administration will have say over installing new leadership in Iran, but he has not publicly shared a plan for what should happen next and the situation in the country remains volatile.
Born in Najaf, Iraq, to an ethnic Azerbaijani father and an ethnic Persian mother, Khamenei studied to be a cleric before becoming a key figure in the Iranian revolution. He was arrested and exiled for three years during the reign of Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, who was deposed and exiled in 1979.
ABC News’ Shannon Kingston contributed to this story.
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