The Tasnim and Mehr news agencies claimed the Iranian supreme leader is “steadfast and firm in commanding the field”
US President Donald Trump has said he believes Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead. In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead.”
Trump’s claim followed an earlier statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that growing signs indicate the Iranian Supreme Leader had been killed.
Iran’s Tasnim and Mehr news agencies have reported the supreme leader is “steadfast and firm in commanding the field.”
Khamenei’s compound was hit in a “powerful surprise attack,” and “there are many signs” he “is no more,” Netanyahu said later that day.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, however, has said he is “not in the position to confirm” the claim.
Israel and the US attacked the Islamic Republic on Saturday, with President Donald Trump calling the strike a way to “raze their missile industry” and navy, as well as force regime change in Tehran. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes against Israeli targets and US military bases in the Middle East.
Netanyahu added that “thousands of targets” in Iran’s leadership will be killed in the coming days and urged Iranians to take to the streets to overthrow the government.
Earlier Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC the Iranian leader was alive.
“Almost all officials are safe and sound and alive. We may have lost one or two commanders,” he said.
West Jerusalem is reportedly working to wipe out top figures in Iran’s government and security services, according to Axios.
Concurrently, Washington’s strikes are mostly focused on the country’s missile program, the outlet wrote, citing a senior US official.
Moscow has condemned the operation and warned it could further destabilize the entire region.
Washington and West Jerusalem’s attack is a “premeditated and unprovoked act of aggression,” aimed at toppling a government “they deem undesirable because it has refused to yield to the dictates of force and hegemonic pressure,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement.