Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in US-Israeli airstrikes; Tehran declares 40 days of mourning and warns of ‘heaviest’ retaliation

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed during coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes, Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday(March 1), triggering a period of national mourning and sharp warnings of retaliation from Tehran.

Iranian authorities announced that the country’s supreme leader “has reached martyrdom,” describing him as a devoted fighter who gave his life for the nation, and declared 40 days of national mourning following his death.

“This great scholar and mujahid (fighter) sacrificed his life to lift Iran… and he is in the grand presence of martyrs above,” said the state affliated Mehr news outlet, according to CNN website.


The confirmation came a day after the United States and Israel said Khamenei had been killed during a coordinated strike that began Saturday. US President Donald Trump announced that the 86-year-old leader had been killed on the first day of what he described as massive joint airstrikes. Iranian state television later confirmed his death.

Khamenei was reportedly killed in his compound in central Tehran, near the university, a key decision-making hub and nerve center of the Islamic Republic’s leadership.

His death now opens a period of uncertainty for Iran’s leadership and the broader Middle East.

Who was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has had only two supreme leaders. The position holds sweeping authority, serving as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, including the Revolutionary Guards. Though not formally a dictator, Khamenei wielded decisive power, able to veto policies and approve candidates for public office.

At home, Khamenei dominated Iran’s political landscape, with ultimate authority over the state and a presence so pervasive that generations have known no other leader.

He was born in 1939 in Mashhad, the second of eight children in a religious family, and grew up modestly before beginning formal clerical studies at a young age.

Khamenei became a prominent opponent of the Shah, enduring repeated arrests and exile before the 1979 revolution, and was later appointed Tehran’s Friday prayer leader as the new regime consolidated power.

Iran’s warning

Iran’s military quickly vowed retaliation, with the Revolutionary Guards warning of their “heaviest offensive operation” yet against Israeli and US targets.

“The heaviest offensive operations in the history of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will begin shortly toward the occupied lands and bases of the American terrorists.”