DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) : Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died following a major attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday. President Donald Trump previously announced the death, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.
Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency did not report a cause of death for the 86-year-old. The assassination put the future of the Islamic Republic in doubt and raised the risk of regional instability.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He warned of “heavy and pinpoint bombing” that he said would continue throughout the week and even beyond, part of a lethal assault the U.S. has justified as necessary to disable the country’s nuclear capabilities.
The attack opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, carried the potential for retaliatory violence and a wider war, and represented a startling flex of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”
