Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Assassinated in U.S.–Israeli Strikes

Iranian President Calls Khamenei’s Death a ‘Great Crime’ — Says It Will Not Go Unanswered

IReza Aref Says Iran Is in Mourning — But This Mourning Is Not Passivity

Top Security Official Says Transition Process After Khamenei’s Death to Begin Today

Khamenei’s assassination a ‘cowardly, barbaric’ act: Iranian Embassy in Pakistan

Iran’s security chief warns against division attempts

Crowds in Iran call for vengeance over Khamenei’s assassination

Iraq announces three days of mourning over Khamenei’s death

Hamas Mourns Iran’s Khamenei

TEHRAN: Iranian state media has confirmed that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — the nation’s top political and religious authority — has been assassinated in US-Israeli strikes, following earlier reports of his killing by US and Israeli officials.

Iran’s government has vowed that avenging the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is both a legitimate duty and a right, and that this great crime will not go unanswered.

Following the confirmation of the death of longtime Iranian Supreme Leader in joint US-Israeli strikes, the Iranian government has officially declared a 40-day period of national mourning. In conjunction with this observance, authorities have also announced seven days of public holidays.

His death at his office “showed that he consistently stood among the people and at the forefront of his responsibilities, confronting what officials call global arrogance,” state TV said.

Khamenei has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, succeeding the founder of the post-shah Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who steered Iran’s 1979 revolution.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and two other top officials will lead Iran in the transitional period following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iranian President terms Khamenei’s death ‘great crime’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has termed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death a “great crime”, vowing to make those responsible “regret it”.

“This great crime will never remain unanswered and will turn a new page in the history of the Islamic world and Shiism. “The pure blood of this high-ranking leader will flow like a roaring spring and will eradicate American-Zionist oppression and crime,” a statement from his office said.

“This time too, with all our strength and determination, with the support of the Islamic nation and the free people of the world, we will make the perpetrators and commanders of this great crime regret it,” it added.

In a message to the nation, the first vice-president of Iran, Mohammad Reza Aref, said, “Today, Islamic Iran is in mourning; but this mourning is not a mourning of passivity," he says. He says the US and Israel thought they could "shake the soul of a nation" by killing the country's supreme leader.”

But the Islamic Revolution "becomes more alive and rooted through martyrdom," Aref says. He says the strategy is protecting national stability and internal cohesion.

US President Donald Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform earlier in the day that 86-year-old Khamenei was killed in the joint US-Israeli strikes, which began early on Saturday.

“He 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,” Trump wrote.

“This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country,” he said. “Hopefully, the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots,” he added.

Khamenei transition process to begin Today 

Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, has said the transition process following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will begin from today. “An interim leadership council will soon be formed. The president, the head of the judiciary and a jurist from the Guardian Council will assume responsibility until the election of the next leader,” said Larijani, the head of Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, who was an adviser to Khamenei.

“This council will be established as soon as possible. We are working to form it as early as today,” he said in an interview broadcast by state TV.

A number of Irani senior figures killed in US-Israeli aggression

They include:

•            Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, who was killed on Saturday morning at his office

•            Iranian television reports that the country's armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed in airstrikes

•            Tehran has also confirmed the death of the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, General Mohammad Pakpour

•            State media has also reported that Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law and grandchild were killed in the attack

•            An intelligence source and military source has told CBS News that overall around 40 Iranian officials were killed in the strikes

Thousands of mourners have gathered in Iran’s Isfahan after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli attack.

Khamenei’s assassination a ‘cowardly, barbaric’ act: Iranian Embassy in Pakistan

The Embassy of Iran in Pakistan has condemned the “cowardly, hideous and barbaric terrorist act” on the part of the US and Israel targeting the leadership of Iran, following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The statement recalled the “bravery, resistance, steadfastness, and lifelong devotion of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, to the ideals of independence, dignity, and resistance,” the statement read.

The statement further added: “We reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the noble aspirations of the Islamic revolution and our firm commitment to its enduring principles and emphasise that we will stand by the eternal aspirations of this great martyr until our last breath and the last droplet of our blood”.

Iran’s security chief warns against division attempts

Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, has warned against attempts to divide Iran following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli strikes.

“Groups seeking to divide Iran should know that we will not tolerate it,” said Larijani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, in an interview broadcast on state TV, calling on Iranians to unite.

Iran police intelligence chief killed in US, Israeli strikes

Iran’s police intelligence chief Gholamreza Rezaian has been killed during US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, Iran’s local media reported.

“General Gholamreza Rezaian, head of the national police intelligence, was killed following the yesterday’s enemy attacks,” Fars news agency reported, alongside other media outlets.

Crowds in Iran’s south call for vengeance over Khamenei’s assassination

Crowds have gathered in Iran’s south to call for vengeance following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli attacks.

Demonstrators carrying portraits of Khamenei in the city of Shiraz called on the armed forces to avenge his death, while chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, a video carried by Tasnim news agency showed. Similar gatherings took place elsewhere in Iran, including in Tehran and the central city of Yazd.

Iraq announces three days of mourning over Khamenei’s death

Iraq has announced a three-day mourning period after the death of Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei. Government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement that “with deep sorrow, we extend our condolences to the noble people of Iran and the entire Muslim world” after Khamenei was killed in “a blatant act of aggression”. He said the government had announced three days of mourning.

Hamas Mourns Iran’s Khamenei

Hamas on Sunday mourned Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei after his death in what it described as a "heinous" US-Israeli attack.

"We in Hamas mourn the passing of Ali Khamenei. He provided all forms of political, diplomatic and military support to our people, our cause, and our resistance," the Palestinian movement said in a statement.

"The US and the fascist occupation government bear full responsibility for this blatant aggression and heinous crime against the sovereignty of Iran, as well as for its serious repercussions on the security and stability of the region."