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| Iran's Supreme Leader Killed in Joint US-Israeli Strikes; Region Braces for Escalation |
Khamenei was killed at his compound in central Tehran while "carrying out his duties," state media Fars News Agency reported. Satellite imagery showed significant damage to several buildings within the compound. An Iranian television announcer broke down in tears while reading the announcement on air. Iran has declared 40 days of national mourning.
Trump Calls for Regime Change
President Donald Trump announced the strikes early Saturday and framed the military operation as a push to overturn Tehran's government. He vowed the campaign would continue "uninterrupted throughout the week, or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD." When asked by CBS News who he envisioned leading Iran, Trump said he knew "exactly who, but I can't tell you," adding that there are "some good candidates."
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that framing, saying Iran "had their chance, yet refused to make a deal — and now they are suffering the consequences." He warned that Iran's missile production and its navy "will be destroyed" and pledged that Iran "will never have a nuclear weapon."
US Central Command released video footage Saturday night documenting ongoing strikes, and the Israel Defense Forces announced a fresh wave of attacks Sunday targeting Iran's ballistic missile systems and air defense infrastructure.
Iran Vows Its "Heaviest Offensive" in History
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded swiftly, warning that "the heaviest offensive operations in the history of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will begin shortly toward the occupied lands and bases of the American terrorists." Iran's government called the killing of Khamenei "a great crime" that "will never remain unanswered," and the Supreme National Security Council said the strikes would "begin a massive uprising in fighting the world's oppressors."
Iranian ballistic missiles struck the heart of Tel Aviv on Saturday. Iran also launched drone and missile attacks on US military bases and civilian infrastructure across the Gulf, hitting airports in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain. At least one person was killed and seven injured at Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport. Dubai International Airport sustained minor damage. A residential high-rise fire broke out in Manama, Bahrain, following Iranian drone strikes. Several Gulf states, including the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, have closed their airspace.
The US military reported no combat-related American casualties as of Saturday evening.
Civilian Toll Mounts
The strikes have exacted a steep toll on Iranian civilians. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported at least 133 civilians killed and 200 injured, calling the figure "a minimum and conservative estimate." Iranian state media, citing the Iranian Red Crescent, put the toll at 201 killed and 747 injured across 24 provinces. Among the casualties, one US-Israeli strike killed scores of students at an elementary school in southern Iran, according to Iranian state media.
Diplomatic Fallout
At an emergency UN Security Council session Saturday, US Ambassador Mike Waltz cited decades of Iranian aggression — including attacks on US Marines in Lebanon, American troops in Iraq, and support for militant proxy organizations — to justify the strikes, though he did not point to any specific imminent threat. Iran's UN representative called the strikes a "war crime" contrary to the UN Charter.
The United Arab Emirates described the situation as a "historic moment" in the Middle East, saying world leaders had "failed to ensure the region's stability."
Question of Succession
With Khamenei's death, Iran faces a profound leadership crisis. The country's constitution grants the 88-member Assembly of Experts the authority to select a new supreme leader, but Khamenei had no officially declared heir. Potential successors include his son Mojtaba Khamenei, though father-to-son succession is frowned upon in Shia clerical tradition; Assembly of Experts deputy chairman Alireza Arafi; hardline cleric Mohammad Mehdi Mirbagheri; Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the Islamic Republic's founder; and senior cleric Hashem Hosseini Bushehri.
Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton urged the Trump administration to work closely with Iran's internal opposition. "It's absolutely critical that we know what they're capable of doing, whether they can help cause fractures in the regime at the top," Bolton said, adding that Khamenei "deserved it" given the regime's role in the deaths of thousands of Americans over the decades.
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