Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, state media confirmed. The announcement comes after Donald Trump said Khamenei, had been killed by US-Israeli strikes across Iran.
The Iranian government also announced 40 days of mourning following the killing of Khamenei. According Iranian media reports, Khamenei was killed in the early hours of Saturday.
Earlier reports said the body of Khamenei had been recovered following alleged Israeli-US strikes, even as Tehran had not initially confirmed his death. According to Israel’s Channel 12, a photograph of Khamenei’s body was shown to US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reports said several members of Khamenei’s family were also killed in the strikes that began on Saturday morning, including his daughter, grandchild, daughter-in-law and son-in-law.
Iran’s Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Pakpour, were also reported killed in the strikes.