Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, White House confirms

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the United States, President Donald Trump said Saturday on social media.

Trump said his death is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.” The death occurred after a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites.

The president also said “heavy and pinpoint bombing” was to continue “uninterrupted” through the week or longer.

There was no immediate comment from Iran. The assassination of the second leader of the Islamic Republic, who had no designated successor, would throw its future into doubt and raise the prospect of a protracted conflict given Iranian threats of retaliation.

Trump in his post called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history.”

Trump said that Khamenei “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.”

In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had been killed when Israel struck his compound early Saturday.

Shortly after the address, two Israeli officials said Israel had confirmed his death. The officials both spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and gave no further details.

Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He had the final say on all major policies, leading Iran’s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard — the two main centers of power in the country’s theocracy.

As the attack on Iran unfolded, Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership. In a video announcing the “major combat operations,” Trump told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”

Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.

Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of the 86-year-old Khamenei. Before Israeli officials confirmed the death, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive “as far as I know.” He called the attack “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.”

The strikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, marking the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has attacked the Islamic Republic during talks over its nuclear program.

About 12 hours after the attacks began, the U.S. military reported no U.S. casualties and minimal damage at U.S. bases despite “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.” It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.

Various members of Iran’s leadership were targeted in the attack. Israel said it killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country’s defense minister. The Israeli military also said its strikes killed the secretary of the Iranian Security Council, a close adviser to Khamenei.

Israel said the strikes had targeted three locations in Tehran where intelligence had indicated that top Iranian officials were gathered. Neither Iran nor the U.S. commented on or confirmed Israel’s claims about the Iranian leadership.

Even if Iran’s top leaders are killed, regime change is not guaranteed.

Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the administration had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance.

The U.N. Security Council said it would meet Saturday afternoon. The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on X it was closely monitoring developments and had seen “no evidence of radiological impact.”

Iran was in a “near-total internet blackout,” advocacy group NetBlocks said.

This image provided by Airbus shows the strike on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's compound on Saturday in Iran. (Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026 via AP)

Months of rising tensions

Tensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region. Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, as the country struggles with growing dissent following nationwide protests.

The trigger for Saturday’s strikes appeared to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks on Thursday. They also reflected dramatic changes that have left Iran’s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.

Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel has left Iran’s network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. U.S. sanctions and global isolation have decimated Iran’s economy.

Iran responded to the latest strikes by launching missiles and drones targeting Israel and strikes targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Israel’s military said Iran fired “dozens” of missiles at Israel, with many intercepted. Emergency responder Magen David Adom noted 89 “lightly injured” people.

At least three explosions were heard Saturday evening near the Intelligence Ministry building in northern Tehran, witnesses said, adding that air defense systems had begun operating there. Israel’s military said it had begun new strikes against missile launchers and aerial defense systems in central Iran.

In southern Iran, at least 85 people were reported killed when a girls’ school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, the local governor told Iranian state TV.

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said he was “aware of reports” that a girls’ school was struck and they were looking into them.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said at least 15 people were killed in the southwest, quoting the governor of Lamerd, Ali Alizadeh, as saying a sports hall, two residential areas and a hall near a school were hit.

Flights across the Middle East were disrupted, and air defense fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ commercial capital. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the UAE capital killed one person, state media said.

Attack was coordinated between Israel and US

“Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, a key mediator of the nuclear talks, said on X. “Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this.”

Israel said the operation has been planned for months with the United States. Air Force pilots were striking “hundreds of targets across Iran,” Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement.

Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence targets, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information on the attack.

Trump, in seeking to justify the military action, claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program, despite asserting last year the program had been “obliterated” by an earlier round of strikes.

He acknowledged Saturday that there could be American casualties, saying “that often happens in war.” It was a notable statement from a U.S. leader who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”

Trump also said he was aiming to “annihilate” the Iranian navy and destroy regional proxies supported by Tehran. He called on the paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard to lay down arms, saying members would be given immunity or face “certain death” if they didn’t.

Iran had said it hoped to avert a war, but maintained its right to enrich uranium. It did not want to discuss other issues such as its long-range missile program or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites the U.S. bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material.

Iran on Saturday requested an urgent session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors about “these threats to safeguarded nuclear facilities,” according to a letter posted by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.

Trump had threatened military action but held off following Iran’s recent crackdown on protests spurred by economic grievances that evolved into a nationwide push against the ruling clerics.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency says it confirmed more than 7,000 deaths in the crackdown and is investigating thousands more. The government has acknowledged more than 3,000 killed.

Now, Iranians are likely to be wary about taking to the streets again because the Revolutionary Guard has demonstrated its ruthlessness, said Kamran Matin, an expert on Iran at the University of Sussex in southern England.

The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A third of worldwide oil exports transported by sea passed through the strait in 2025.

Saudi Arabia said Iran had targeted its capital and eastern region in an attack that was repelled. Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom, and three buildings were damaged in the capital, Manama, and Muharraq city by drone strikes and debris from an intercepted missile.

Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said a drone targeted the main international airport, injuring several employees. Kuwait’s state-run news agency said three troops were injured by shrapnel from strikes that hit Ali Al-Salem air base. Explosions could also be heard in Qatar. Jordan said it “dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles.

Toropin and Madhani reported from Washington and Boak from West Palm Beach, Florida. Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show that IRNA reported 40 people were killed in the school strike, without specifying students.

阿联酋迪拜——美国总统唐纳德·特朗普周六在社交媒体上表示，伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊在以色列和美国对伊朗发动的一次重大袭击中丧生。

特朗普称他的死是“伊朗人民夺回国家的最大机会”。此前，美国和以色列联合空袭了伊朗的军事和政府目标，导致他身亡。

总统还表示，“大规模精准轰炸”将“不间断地”持续一周或更长时间。

伊朗方面尚未对此发表评论。这位没有指定继承人的伊斯兰共和国第二任领导人遇刺身亡，将使伊朗的未来充满不确定性，并鉴于伊朗的报复威胁，增加战争旷日持久的可能性。

特朗普在帖子中称哈梅内伊是“历史上最邪恶的人之一”。

特朗普表示，哈梅内伊“无法躲避我们的情报和高度精密的跟踪系统，而且由于与以色列密切合作，他和与他一起被杀的其他领导人都无能为力。”

以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡在全国电视讲话中表示，有“越来越多的迹象”表明，以色列在周六凌晨袭击哈梅内伊住所时，哈梅内伊已经身亡。

讲话结束后不久，两名以色列官员表示，以色列方面已确认他的死讯。这两名官员在正式声明发布前均要求匿名，并未透露更多细节。

哈梅内伊接替了1979年伊斯兰革命领袖阿亚图拉·鲁霍拉·霍梅尼的职位。他对所有重大政策拥有最终决定权，领导着伊朗的宗教机构和准军事革命卫队——这是该国神权政治中的两大权力中心。

在对伊朗发动袭击之际，特朗普敦促伊朗民众通过反抗伊斯兰领导层来“掌握自己的命运”。在一段宣布“重大作战行动”的视频中，特朗普告诉伊朗民众：“行动结束后，你们要接管自己的政府。它将属于你们。这可能是你们几代人唯一的机会。”

伊朗国家媒体周六晚间援引红新月会的消息称，至少有201人死亡，700多人受伤。伊朗随即向以色列和美国在该地区的军事基地发射导弹和无人机进行报复，双方交火持续到深夜。

对伊朗的首批袭击似乎就发生在86岁的哈梅内伊办公室附近。在以色列官员确认哈梅内伊死亡之前，伊朗外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇告诉美国全国广播公司新闻网，据他所知，哈梅内伊和总统马苏德·佩泽什基安都还活着。他称这次袭击是“无端挑衅、非法且完全不合法的”。

在神圣的斋月期间发动的袭击，开启了美国干预伊朗的惊人新篇章，这是特朗普政府八个月内第二次在伊朗核计划谈判期间对这个伊斯兰共和国发动袭击。

袭击开始约12小时后，美军报告称，尽管遭到“数百次伊朗导弹和无人机袭击”，但美军基地未出现人员伤亡，损失也微乎其微。美军表示，伊朗境内的袭击目标包括革命卫队指挥设施、防空设施、导弹和无人机发射场以及军用机场。

伊朗多名领导层成员在此次袭击中成为目标。以色列方面称，袭击炸死了伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队司令及国防部长。以色列军方还表示，袭击还炸死了伊朗国家安全委员会秘书，此人是哈梅内伊的亲密顾问。

以色列方面称，此次空袭的目标是德黑兰的三个地点，情报显示伊朗高级官员聚集于此。伊朗和美国均未对以色列关于伊朗领导层的说法发表评论或予以证实。

即使伊朗最高领导人被杀，政权更迭也无法保证。

民主党人谴责特朗普未经国会授权就采取行动。白宫发言人卡罗琳·莱维特表示，政府事先已向国会多位共和党和民主党领导人进行了简报。

联合国安理会表示将于周六下午召开会议。联合国核监督机构在X网站上表示，正在密切关注事态发展，目前尚未发现“放射性影响的证据”。

倡导组织NetBlocks表示，伊朗当时处于“近乎完全的互联网封锁”状态。

这张由空客公司提供的图片显示了周六发生在伊朗境内的对伊朗最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊住所的袭击。（Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026 via AP）

数月紧张局势升级

近几周来，随着美国军舰进入该地区，紧张局势急剧升级。特朗普表示，他希望达成一项限制伊朗核计划的协议，而此时伊朗正因全国范围内的抗议活动而面临日益高涨的反对声浪。

周六的袭击似乎是由周四最新一轮核谈判的失败引发的。这也反映出伊朗领导层发生了剧烈的变化，使其地位处于近半个世纪前伊斯兰革命以来的最弱势状态。

去年六月以色列和美国的空袭严重削弱了伊朗的防空能力、军事领导层和核计划。哈马斯于2023年10月7日袭击以色列，引发了席卷整个地区的冲突，也使伊朗在中东的代理人网络遭受重创。美国的制裁和国际孤立严重打击了伊朗的经济。

伊朗对最新袭击事件做出回应，发射导弹和无人机袭击以色列，并对位于巴林、科威特和卡塔尔的美国军事设施发动空袭。以色列军方称，伊朗向以色列发射了“数十枚”导弹，其中许多被拦截。紧急救援组织以色列红十字会（Magen David Adom）报告称，有89人“轻伤”。

目击者称，周六晚间，德黑兰北部情报部大楼附近至少发生三起爆炸，并补充说，该地区的防空系统已开始运作。以色列军方表示，已开始对伊朗中部地区的导弹发射装置和防空系统发动新一轮打击。

据伊朗国家电视台报道，伊朗南部一所女子学校遭到袭击，造成至少 85 人死亡，数十人受伤。当地省长告诉伊朗国家电视台。

美国中央司令部发言人蒂姆·霍金斯上尉表示，他“已经注意到有报道称”一所女子学校遭到袭击，他们正在调查此事。

伊朗国家通讯社伊通社报道称，西南部至少有 15 人丧生。拉梅尔德省省长阿里·阿里扎德表示，一座体育馆、两处居民区和一所学校附近的礼堂遭到袭击。

中东地区航班中断，防空炮火在阿联酋商业首都迪拜上空轰鸣。阿联酋官方媒体称，伊朗导弹袭击阿联酋首都的弹片造成一人死亡。

此次袭击是由以色列和美国协调组织的。

“积极而严肃的谈判再次遭到破坏，”阿曼外交大臣巴德尔·布赛迪（Badr al-Busaidi）在X电视台表示，他是核谈判的关键调解人。“这既不利于美国的利益，也不利于世界和平事业。”

以色列方面表示，此次行动已与美国筹划数月。以色列国防军总参谋长埃亚尔·扎米尔中将在声明中称，空军飞行员正在打击“伊朗境内数百个目标”。

据一位了解此次行动的官员透露，以色列此次行动的目标包括伊朗军队、政府象征和情报目标。这位官员因需讨论有关此次袭击的非公开信息而要求匿名。

特朗普在试图为军事行动辩护时声称，尽管伊朗去年曾断言其核计划已被之前的打击“摧毁”，但伊朗仍在继续发展其核计划。

他周六承认可能会有美军伤亡，并表示“战争中这种情况经常发生”。这位美国领导人以“美国优先”的竞选纲领上台，并誓言不卷入“无休止的战争”，他的这番言论引人注目。

特朗普还表示，他的目标是“摧毁”伊朗海军，并消灭德黑兰支持的地区代理人。他呼吁伊朗革命卫队放下武器，并称成员要么获得豁免权，要么面临“必死无疑”的命运。

伊朗曾表示希望避免战争，但坚持其拥有浓缩铀的权利。伊朗不愿讨论其他问题，例如其远程导弹计划或对哈马斯和真主党等武装组织的支持。

伊朗声称自6月以来未进行铀浓缩活动，但却阻止国际核查人员前往美国轰炸过的地点。美联社分析的卫星照片显示，其中两个地点出现了新的活动，表明伊朗正试图评估并可能回收铀浓缩物质。

据半官方的塔斯尼姆通讯社发布的一封信函显示，伊朗周六请求国际原子能机构理事会召开紧急会议，讨论“受保护核设施面临的这些威胁”。

特朗普曾威胁要采取军事行动，但在伊朗最近镇压了由经济不满引发的抗议活动后，他最终没有采取行动。这些抗议活动后来演变成一场全国性的反对执政神职人员的运动。

人权活动人士通讯社称，已确认镇压行动中超过7000人死亡，并正在调查另外数千起死亡事件。政府已承认超过3000人死亡。

英国南部苏塞克斯大学的伊朗问题专家卡姆兰·马丁表示，现在伊朗人可能会对再次走上街头感到谨慎，因为革命卫队已经展现了其残酷无情的一面。

这些袭击可能会动摇全球市场，尤其是如果伊朗使霍尔木兹海峡的商业航行变得不安全。到2025年，全球三分之一的石油海运出口都要经过该海峡。

沙特阿拉伯称伊朗袭击了其首都麦纳麦和东部地区，但被击退。巴林表示，一枚导弹袭击了位于该岛国境内的美国海军第五舰队总部，无人机袭击和被拦截导弹的碎片导致首都麦纳麦和穆哈拉克市的三栋建筑物受损。

科威特民航局称，一架无人机袭击了科威特主要国际机场，造成数名员工受伤。科威特官方通讯社报道称，阿里·萨利姆空军基地遭到袭击，三名士兵被弹片击伤。卡塔尔境内也能听到爆炸声。约旦方面表示，已“处理”了49架无人机和弹道导弹。

托罗平（Toropin）和马德哈尼（Madhani）从华盛顿报道，博克（Boak）从佛罗里达州西棕榈滩报道。特拉维夫的梅兰妮·利德曼（Melanie Lidman）亦有贡献。美联社驻世界各地的记者也为本报道做出了贡献。

本报道已更正，据伊朗伊斯兰共和国通讯社（IRNA）报道，学校罢课事件中有 40 人死亡，但未具体说明是学生。