U.S. President Donald Trump says that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed. Khamenei was among a number of senior Iranian officials targeted in the initial wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes earlier today.
Readers can first get caught up on the ongoing conflict in our previous rolling coverage here.
“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 in a post on his Truth Social social media network. “He 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, could do.”
“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us,” Trump added. “As I said last night, ‘Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!’ Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said earlier today that, “this morning, in a powerful surprise strike, the compound of the tyrant Ali Khamenei was destroyed in the heart of Tehran… and there are many signs that this tyrant is no longer alive.”
Trump’s comment that Khamenei was “unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems” is notable.
“Getting asked a lot why this kicked off mid day and not at night. I don’t know for certain, but everything points to moving up a timeline based on time sensitive intelligence,” our own Tyler Rogoway highlighted earlier in a post on X. “Limitations to doing this for a large bi-national operation, but yeah, that’s where I would place my bet.”
Exactly how this will impact the course of the conflict and especially the future of Iran is unclear, but as it sits now there is likely a gaping power vacuum in Iran.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com