Tehran (Somalia Today) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an unprecedented wave of US and Israeli airstrikes, senior Israeli officials said Saturday, a seismic assassination threatening to engulf the Middle East in a wider war.Â
The 86-year-old cleric, who transformed Iran into a formidable anti-Western power over three decades, died after Israeli jets obliterated his Tehran compound.
Washington dubbed the massive bombardment “Operation Epic Fury.” It involved some 200 Israeli fighter jets striking 500 targets, including ballistic missile facilities and senior military commanders.
Tehran did not immediately confirm Khamenei’s fate, but top aide Ali Larijani—reportedly tapped to manage the sudden leadership vacuum—vowed crushing retaliation against “Zionist criminals.”
‘Existential threat’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation there were clear signs Khamenei “is no longer,” and urged the Iranian people to “free itself from the chains of dictatorship.”
Netanyahu, who reportedly saw a photograph of Khamenei’s recovered body, thanked US President Donald Trump for his “historic leadership.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the coordinated offensive neutralised an “immediate existential threat,” and warned citizens to prepare for difficult days ahead.
Sources said Iranian Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammed Pakpour were also killed, alongside Khamenei’s son-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Trump framed the offensive as a historic opportunity for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers, citing grievances dating back to the 1979 Islamic revolution and the US embassy hostage crisis.
“When we are finished, take over your government,” Trump said in a video address. “This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
But the military gamble faced immediate pushback in Washington, with opposition Democrats and some Republicans warning a prolonged campaign is illegal without congressional approval.
‘Scrap missiles’
Iran swiftly retaliated, launching barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel and several Gulf Arab countries hosting US military bases.
Loud explosions rocked the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi and the business hub of Dubai, where a strike hit one plush hotel district.
The Pentagon reported no immediate US casualties following the Iranian barrage.
However, senior IRGC commander Ebrahim Jabbari dismissed Tehran’s initial retaliation as merely using “scrap missiles,” warning of unforeseen and devastating weapons to come.
Inside Iran, the coordinated strikes triggered widespread panic.
“We are terrified. My children are shaking, we have nowhere to go,” weeping 32-year-old mother Minou told reporters by phone from the northern city of Tabriz.
State media, citing a local prosecutor, reported that an Israeli strike hit a girls’ primary school in the southern town of Minab, killing 85 people.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the claim.
Global shockwaves
The conflict instantly sent shockwaves through the global economy, with Tehran warning that the Strait of Hormuz—a transit point for a fifth of global oil consumption—had been closed.
Energy analysts predict oil prices could surge by up to $20 per barrel when markets open on Monday.
The UN Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in New York, as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded an immediate halt to hostilities.
If formally confirmed, Khamenei’s death marks the most significant turning point for the Islamic Republic since its founding.
He took office in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the hardline cleric wielded absolute control over Iran’s political and military institutions.
He fiercely crushed domestic dissent and extended Tehran’s proxy network across the region, heavily backing Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Under his rule, Iran suffered under crushing economic sanctions, particularly after Trump abandoned a landmark nuclear deal in 2018.
Since the October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, Tehran’s network of militant allies has suffered severe setbacks, compounded by the December 2024 overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The clerical establishment was already reeling from a devastating 12-day US-Israeli air war in June 2025 that destroyed its nuclear sites, as well as massive anti-government protests earlier this year that left thousands dead.
The Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body, is constitutionally tasked with selecting a new supreme leader, though loyalists are already stepping in to manage the crisis.
