{"id":496457,"date":"2026-02-28T23:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/496457\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T23:25:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T23:25:14","slug":"irans-supreme-leader-has-been-killed-during-major-attack-trump-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/496457\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s supreme leader has been killed during major attack, Trump says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major attack launched by Israel and the United States killed Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Donald Trump announced Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"APTOPIX<\/p>\n

People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\n AP Photo <\/p>\n

\"APTOPIX<\/p>\n

Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\n AP Photo <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\n AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

Ruins remain in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\n AP Photo\/Amir Kholousi\/ISNA <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

A damaged car remains on the ground in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\n AP Photo\/Amir Kholousi\/ISNA <\/p>\n

\"APTOPIX<\/p>\n

Civilians staying in a shelter after alarms announced that Israel had launched an attack on Iran, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
\n(AP Photo\/Oded Balilty) <\/p>\n

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\"Iran<\/p>\n

Rubble remains in the aftermath of an Israeli-U.S. strike in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
\n(AP Photo\/Amir Kholousi, ISNA) <\/p>\n

\n AP Photo\/Amir Kholousi, ISNA <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\"Dubai<\/p>\n

Firemen and rescue workers inspect the site of an explosion at the Fairmont The Palm Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\n AP Photo\/Altaf Qadri <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

This image provided by Airbus shows the strike on Iranian Supreme Leader\u2019s compound on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Iran. Airbus DS 2026 via AP)
\n(Pl\u00e9iades Neo (c) <\/p>\n

\n Pl\u00e9iades Neo (c <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
\n(AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi) <\/p>\n

\n AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi <\/p>\n

\"APTOPIX<\/p>\n

People rush to take shelter as warning sirens sound following missile fired towards Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
\n(AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg) <\/p>\n

\n AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

A group of men wave Iranian flags as they attend a demonstration in support of the government and against U.S. and Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
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\n AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi <\/p>\n

\"APTOPIX<\/p>\n

An incoming projectile explodes over the water as Israel issues a nationwide alert following its strikes on Iran, in Haifa Bay, northern Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
\n(AP Photo\/Leo Correa) <\/p>\n

\n AP Photo\/Leo Correa <\/p>\n

\"Iran<\/p>\n

Vehicles queue outside a gas station following Israeli strikes in the city, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.
\n(AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi) <\/p>\n

\n AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi <\/p>\n

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 A major attack launched by Israel and the United States killed Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>, President Donald Trump announced Saturday, confirming an assassination that he said gave Iranians their \u201cgreatest chance\u201d to \u201ctake back the country\u201d but that also put the future of the Islamic Republic in doubt and raised the risk of regional instability.\n<\/p>\n

The strikes opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, marking the second time in eight months that the Trump administration had attacked the country during talks over its nuclear program. The reported killing of Khameini after decades in power appeared certain to create a significant leadership vacuum given the absence of a known successor and because the Supreme Leader had final say on all major policies. He led Iran\u2019s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard \u2013 the two main centers of power in the governing theocracy.<\/p>\n

In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were \u201cgrowing signs\u201d that the 86-year-old 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 on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and gave no further details.<\/p>\n

As reports trickled out about the death, eyewitnesses in Tehran told AP some residents were rejoicing, blowing whistles and letting out ululations.<\/p>\n

Strikes followed months of rising tensions<\/p>\n

The joint U.S.-Israel operation, which officials say was planned for months, took place Saturday during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan and at the start of the Iranian work week.<\/p>\n

As the attack on Iran got underway, Trump urged the Iranian public to \u201cseize control of your destiny\u201d by rising up against the Islamic leadership. In a video announcing the \u201cmajor combat operations,\u201d Trump told Iranians that \u201cwhen we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

About 12 hours after the attacks began, the U.S. military reported no U.S. casualties and minimal damage at U.S. bases despite \u201chundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.\u201d It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.<\/p>\n

Various members of Iran\u2019s leadership were targeted in the attack. Israel said it killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country\u2019s defense minister. The Israeli military also said its strikes killed the secretary of the Iranian Security Council, a close adviser to Khamenei.<\/p>\n

Some of the first strikes<\/a> on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of Khamenei, the second leader of the Islamic Republic who succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Before Israeli officials confirmed the death, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian were alive \u201cas far as I know.\u201d He called the attack \u201cunprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Unsuccessful nuclear talks<\/p>\n

Tensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region. Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran\u2019s nuclear program, as the country struggles<\/a> with growing dissent<\/a> following nationwide protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The trigger for Saturday\u2019s strikes appeared to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks on Thursday. They also reflected dramatic changes that have left Iran\u2019s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.<\/p>\n

Though Trump had pronounced the Iranian nuclear program obliterated in strikes last year, the country was rebuilding infrastructure that it had lost, and intelligence showed that Iran had developed the capability to produce its own high-quality centrifuges, an important step in developing the highly enriched uranium needed for weapons. That\u2019s according to a senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump\u2019s decision-making process.<\/p>\n

Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran\u2019s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide conflict sparked by Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel has left Iran\u2019s network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. U.S. sanctions and global isolation have decimated Iran\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Iran responded to the latest strikes by launching missiles and drones targeting Israel<\/a> and strikes targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Israel\u2019s military said Iran fired \u201cdozens\u201d of missiles at Israel, with many intercepted. Emergency responder Magen David Adom noted 89 \u201clightly injured\u201d people.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s military said it had begun new strikes against missile launchers and aerial defense systems in central Iran.<\/p>\n

In southern Iran, at least 85 people were reported killed when a girls\u2019 school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, the local governor told Iranian state TV.<\/p>\n

Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, said he was \u201caware of reports\u201d that a girls\u2019 school was struck and that officials were looking into them.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Flights across the Middle East were disrupted<\/a>, and air defense fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates\u2019 commercial capital. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the UAE capital killed one person, state media said.<\/p>\n

Attack was coordinated between Israel and US<\/p>\n

Israel said the operation has been planned for months with the United States. Air Force pilots were striking \u201chundreds of targets across Iran,\u201d Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled his trip to Israel planned for early next week following the strikes, a State Department official said.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cobliterated\u201d by an earlier round of strikes.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged Saturday that there could be American casualties, saying \u201cthat often happens in war.\u201d It was a notable statement from a U.S. leader who swept into office on an \u201cAmerica First\u201d platform and vowed to keep out of \u201cforever wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump also said he was aiming to \u201cannihilate\u201d 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 \u201ccertain death\u201d if they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Iran has said it hasn\u2019t enriched since June<\/a>, 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<\/a>, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material.<\/p>\n

Trump had threatened military action but held off following Iran\u2019s recent crackdown on protests spurred by economic grievances that evolved into a nationwide push against the ruling clerics.<\/p>\n

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

Regional effects<\/p>\n

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

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Kuwait\u2019s civil aviation authority said a drone targeted the main international airport, injuring several employees. Kuwait\u2019s 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 \u201cdealt with\u201d 49 drones and ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Lidman reported from in Tel Aviv. Boak reported from West Palm Beach, Fla. Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Joe Federman in Jerusalem, Aamer Madhani and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Farnoush Amiri in New York and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story has been corrected to show that IRNA reported 40 people were killed in the school strike, without specifying students.<\/p>\n

Copyright
\n \u00a9\u00a02026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major attack launched by Israel and the United States killed Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[194400,4,450,451,801,803,226987,3,452,453,25],"class_list":["post-496457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-ayatollah-ali-khamenei","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-missile-strikes","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}