Iranians in Dallas took to the streets Saturday for a “Free Iran” demonstration as major developments unfolded overseas, including reports that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a massive U.S. and Israeli military operation.
President Trump said Saturday that Khamenei had been killed, posting on social media: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead.”
Trump added that the U.S. government is “hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us.” He also wrote that “heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
Multiple Israeli official sources and a senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed the news to CBS News, according to the report. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier Saturday there are “growing signs” that Khamenei is “gone” after the mission.
When asked if Khamenei had been killed, Trump told NBC News by phone on Saturday that he had “spoken to a lot of people beyond and we feel certain, we feel, we feel that that is a correct story.”
An Israeli broadcaster reported Saturday that Netanyahu had been shown a photo of Khamenei’s body.
In Iran, people were “cheering in the streets of Tehran,” according to a CBS News producer in Tehran. However, Iranian state media has not confirmed Khamenei’s death, and neither has the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Trump told NBC News that Khamenei “killed many people” and has “destroyed a country.” He also said, “The people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone.”
The Israel Defense Forces said in a press conference Saturday that seven Iranian officials and commanders were killed, including Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Khamenei.
Khamenei, 86, had been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, succeeding the leader of Iran’s 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He controlled all branches of the government and the military and was considered the country’s spiritual leader. It was not immediately clear who would succeed him.