The United States and Israel launched the most ambitious attack on Iran in decades today, with Israel announcing that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the operation, Reuters reports.
Khamenei's body has been found, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.
Iran's Tasnim and Mer news agencies, however, reported that the supreme leader was "steadfast and firm in command on the ground."
Iran called the attacks unprovoked and illegal and responded with missiles fired at Israel and at least seven other countries, including Gulf states that host US bases.
US President Donald Trump, who took the biggest foreign policy risk of his presidency after campaigning for re-election as a "president of peace", said the strikes were aimed at ending the decades-long threat from Iran and ensuring that Iran could not develop nuclear weapons.
Trump called on Iranian security forces to lay down their weapons and urged Iranians to overthrow their government once the bombing is over.
The US president told NBC News later tonight that "most" of Iran's top leadership had been killed. He said he believed the reports of Khamenei's death were accurate.
"We believe that's an accurate story," Trump told NBC News in a telephone interview, according to a report on their website.
The United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on Monday, targeting its top leaders and drawing the Middle East into a conflict that President Donald Trump said would end the security threat to the United States and give Iranians a chance to overthrow their rulers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested earlier today that Israel and the US had killed Khamenei, and called on Iranians to "take to the streets and finish the job," Reuters reported.
"There are many signs that indicate that Khamenei is no more," Netanyahu said, without explicitly confirming his death.
Netanyahu also said that Khamenei's compound had been destroyed, as well as Revolutionary Guard commanders and senior officials linked to the nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier today that almost all senior officials are safe and sound in Iran after the Israeli and American attacks.
Aragchi told the US television network NBC in a live interview that "almost all senior officials are safe and healthy" including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Massoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and National Security Committee Chairman Ebrahim Azizi.
Araghchi said Iran "may have lost one or two commanders." He also said that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was "alive" as far as he knew.
Reuters reported at 15:53 p.m. today that Iranian Al-Alam television reported that Khamenei would address the nation in a few minutes.
Reuters also reported earlier today that two intelligence sources said that ahead of today's US and Israeli strikes, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) assessed that even if Khamenei were killed in the operation, he would most likely be replaced by hardliners from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The assessments, which were produced over the past two weeks, have broadly considered what might happen in Iran following a US intervention and the extent to which a military operation could trigger regime change in the Islamic Republic — now a stated goal of Washington.
Reuters also reported that three sources familiar with the matter said that Iranian Defense Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Pakpour were killed in the Israeli strikes. Iranian media reported that Khamenei's son-in-law and daughter-in-law were also killed.
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Who is Khamenei?
Khamenei, 86, became Iran's highest authority in 1989, following the death of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. As supreme leader, he had ultimate control over Iran's political, military and religious institutions, shaping domestic policy and directing foreign relations.
Israel has long viewed him as a destabilizing force in the Middle East, citing his support for Iran's network of allied militant groups, including the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah. When Israel and Iran fought a 12-day air war in June 2025, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened to assassinate him, saying the supreme leader "cannot continue to exist."
In that war, Israel carried out a surprise strike that hit Iran's underground nuclear facility, killing senior commanders and nuclear scientists, and destroying much of the military leadership. Khamenei's assassination is another blow to a country already grappling with the aftermath of war and economic hardship.
Khamenei maintained the conservative vision of his predecessor, Khomeini, stifling the ambitions of elected presidents who sought more open policies at home and abroad. Under his rule, authorities suppressed repeated protests and sidelined reformists who advocated less confrontation with the West.
Iran has become a powerful regional anti-American power under Khamenei, expanding its influence across the Middle East. He backed the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and pragmatic President Hassan Rouhani, which briefly eased Iran's isolation. But tensions have risen since US President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.
Since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Iran has watched its allies weaken. Hamas and Hezbollah have suffered heavy blows from Israel, while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime supporter of Tehran, was overthrown in December 2024.
The position of supreme leader was established after the 1979 revolution and enshrined in Iran's constitution, giving the top cleric ultimate authority over the president and parliament. The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body overseen by a hardline oversight body aligned with Khamenei, formally elects the supreme leader.
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