Live news updates on Khamenei’s death: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and a staunch opponent of the West, was killed in the initial wave of a large-scale US and Israeli attack that continued for a second day on Sunday as both allies moved against the Islamic republic.
Iranian state television confirmed his death early Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump announced the killing of the 86-year-old cleric, whom he called “one of the worst people in history.”
Witnesses said there were cheers in parts of Tehran after Israeli reports first suggested Khamenei had been killed, while thick black smoke rose over the area where he was known to be staying, according to AFP.
The strike followed weeks after Iranian authorities violently cracked down on large-scale protests that left thousands dead.
Fresh explosions were heard in Tehran in the early hours as Trump vowed to continue the offensive until the collapse of the Islamic Republic and called on security forces to refrain from intervening.
“This is the single best chance for the Iranian people to take their country back,” Trump said in a statement.
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