Iran has confirmed the death of its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed after a massive US-Israeli attack on Saturday.
Confirming the tragic incident, which was initially denied, the Iranian state media said the 86-year-old leader had attained martyrdom alongside his daughter, son-in-law, and grandson.
Iran also announced 40 days of national mourning following the Supreme Leader’s death.
The 86-year-old Islamic scholar has been Iran’s Supreme Leader since 1989, succeeding the Islamic Republic’s late founder, the charismatic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who returned from exile and drove Iran’s 1979 revolution that overthrew US ally and shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He holds ultimate authority over all branches of government, the military and the judiciary, while also acting as the country’s spiritual leader.
During his rule, Khamenei withstood an adversarial relationship with the West, including intense sanctions, and several rounds of protests at home over the economy and rights issues. He has called the US Iran’s “number one enemy”, with Israel trailing close behind.
Khamenei has long said Iran would never build a nuclear weapon and that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. Neither US intelligence nor the UN nuclear watchdog have found any evidence that Iran was pursuing an atomic weapon, a narrative Israel and some in the Trump administration have nevertheless pushed.