Tehran, Mar 1 (EFE).- Iranian state television confirmed Sunday that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead with US-Israeli military strikes delivering the most dramatic rupture in the Islamic Republic’s power structure since the 1979 revolution.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also confirmed his death, saying in a statement carried by the Fars news agency: “We have lost our great leader and we mourn him (…) His martyrdom at the hands of the most terrible terrorists and exterminers of humanity is a symbol of his virtue.”
The IRGC called on all sectors of society to demonstrate “national unity and cohesion” through “enthusiastic participation in national defense,” adding that solidarity would send a message to “the terrorists” responsible for the attack.
In an emotional broadcast, a state television presenter announcing Khamenei’s death said the country would observe 40 days of mourning.
US President Donald Trump earlier announced on Saturday that Khamenei, 86, who had served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, was killed in the attacks and urged Iranians to “reclaim” their country after decades of clerical rule.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said the Iranian leader was “unable to avoid our Intelligence and highly sophisticated tracking systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him.”
The US president said that Khamenei’s death has present the Iranian with “the single greatest chance…to take back their country.”
The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, also reported that Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson were killed in the strikes carried out early Saturday.
It added that one of his daughters-in-law died in a separate attack.
The US.-Israeli offensive began early Saturday against targets in Tehran and other Iranian cities, including Tabriz in the northwest and Isfahan in central Iran.
The attacks have resulted in more than 200 deaths, according to figures from the Iranian Red Crescent.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, told an emergency Security Council meeting on Saturday that the strikes constituted “a war crime and a crime against humanity” due to the deaths of civilians, including children.
EFE has not been able to independently verify the full extent of the Israeli and US attacks, as international media face restrictions on access to affected areas in Iran. EFE
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