Footage showing Khamenei’s body was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
By United with Israel Staff
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was eliminated during the opening phase of the joint U.S.–Israel strike campaign, according to senior Israeli officials cited by local media Saturday night.
A senior Israeli source said Khamenei was killed in the initial wave of attacks, with Israeli officials later updated that his body was recovered from the rubble of a compound heavily damaged in the strikes. Israeli reports further stated that documentation showing Khamenei’s body was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier in the evening, a security source told Israel’s Channel 14 News that “indications are strengthening that Ali Khamenei was eliminated in the opening strike,” as information surrounding his fate emerged during the operation.
In a public statement Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the development, declaring that “the plan to destroy Israel is gone, and there are growing signs that the tyrant Khamenei may also be gone.”
He added: “Soon your moment will come to take to the streets in massive numbers and complete the task of overthrowing the regime of horrors that has made your lives miserable. Help has arrived!”
According to Kan News, explosions were heard near a compound associated with Khamenei roughly half an hour after the Israel Defense Forces announced the start of the operation. Satellite imagery later showed extensive destruction at the site, with heavy smoke rising above the complex.
Kan News further reported that the initial wave of attacks included an apparent attempt to assassinate Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, alongside coordinated strikes targeting multiple senior regime figures as part of the joint operation conducted by the IDF and the U.S. military.
Among those targeted were Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, and military intelligence chief Saleh Asadi. Israeli assessments cited by Kan News indicate that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour was killed in an Israeli strike.
Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Khamenei, was also targeted. His condition remains unknown, though information cited by Kan News suggests he was seriously wounded. Shamkhani had recently assumed an additional role as secretary-general of Iran’s National Defense Council.
Earlier, Iran’s Fars News Agency claimed that Khamenei and several senior officials were “safe and unharmed,” statements that now stand in direct contradiction to Israeli confirmations following the strikes.
Khamenei’s elimination marks the most consequential leadership strike in the history of the Islamic Republic and represents a dramatic escalation in the ongoing U.S.–Israel military campaign targeting Iran’s governing and military command structure.
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