Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that a growing number of indications suggested that Ali Khamenei may have been killed in a joint US-Israeli operation, although he did not officially confirm the leader’s death, Reuters reported.
Is Khamenei alive?
According to Reuters, there were many signs that Khamenei was “no more”, Netanyahu said, without explicitly confirming his death.
This was reported by the AFP agency with reference to two Israeli television stations, which reported on the photo of Khamenei’s body, which they showed to US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu.
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He said Khamenei’s compound had been destroyed and Revolutionary Guard commanders and senior nuclear officials had been destroyed, Reuters reported.
Netanyahu went on to call on Iranians to “take to the streets and finish the job.”
“This morning we destroyed the compound of the tyrant Khamenei,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, adding that for more than 30 years, Khamenei “has been spreading terrorism around the world, making his own people miserable and constantly and tirelessly working on a program to destroy the state of Israel,” according to Reuters.
“There are many signs that this tyrant is no more. This morning we eliminated high-ranking officials in the Ayatollah regime, commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, high-ranking officials of the nuclear program – and we will continue. In the next few days, we will hit thousands of other targets of the terrorist regime,” Netanyahu said, according to Reuters.
30 bombs were dropped on Khamenei’s territory
Meanwhile, a report from Israel’s Channel 12 said that in a joint US-Israeli operation against Iran on Saturday, about 30 bombs were dropped on the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to Israel’s Channel 12 network.
“Thirty bombs were dropped on the compound. Ali Khamenei was underground, but probably not in his own bunker,” Channel 12’s Amit Segal, who is known to be close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said without citing a source.
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Aged 86, Khamenei became Iran’s supreme leader in 1989 after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and as supreme leader had ultimate control over the country’s political, military and religious institutions, directing domestic politics and foreign relations.
The United States and Israel delivered a significant blow to Iran on Saturday. US President Donald Trump has called on the Iranian people to “take control of their destiny” by opposing the Islamic government that has ruled the country since 1979.
In response, Iran launched missiles and drones targeting Israel and US military bases across the region.
The US targeted Revolutionary Guards command facilities, other locations
U.S. forces attacking Iran focused on locations “that posed an imminent threat,” including “command and control facilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian air defense system capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields,” the U.S. Central Command said in a statement Saturday, according to the AP.
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The strikes, which began shortly before 10 a.m. in Tehran, included “precision munitions launched from the air, land and sea” and the US Central Command said it also used low-cost one-way attack drones in combat for the first time.
The AP, citing the military command, said the operation, dubbed “Epic Fury,” is “the largest regional concentration of U.S. military firepower in a generation.”
The oil tankers stopped
Donald Trump released a video calling on the Iranian people to rise up against the theocratic regime that has ruled since 1979, declaring the government to be “you.
According to the Associated Press, at least one strike targeted an area near Ali Khamenei’s office. Iran reported that many senior officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, were safe, although Khamenei’s status remained unclear after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC that he was alive “as far as I know.”
Oil markets remained closed for the weekend as tankers increasingly avoided the Strait of Hormuz following reports of a radio broadcast claiming the route was off limits.
Earlier, the US advised vessels to stay 30 nautical miles away from US military positions in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Even the threat of military action pushed oil prices higher last week, with Brent crude rising 2.5% to $72.48 a barrel on Friday – the highest closing level since July – for a nearly 20% gain this year.
(With input from agencies)
