Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei ‘found dead in rubble’

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been killed in a major assault on Iran launched by Israel and the United States, Donald Trump announced on Saturday night.

The Ayatollah’s body, riddled with shrapnel wounds, was recovered from the rubble after a daylight bombing raid aimed at toppling the regime destroyed his Tehran compound.

Israel and the US conducted 900 strikes in 12 hours on military bases, nuclear sites and government buildings across Iran using F-35s, F-22s, and - for the first time - one-way attack drones.

Announcing Khamenei’s death, the US president said that many of the regime’s military, security and police forces were ready to lay down their weapons and submit to the US.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”

Photographs of Khamenei’s body were shown to Mr Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as proof of his assassination, which was met with celebrations in the streets of London and Tehran.

In Finchley, north London, hundreds of Iranians waved flags and honked car horns as celebrations spilled onto the streets of the area known as “little Tehran.”

Khamenei’s death represents the gravest blow to the Iranian regime since the 1979 revolution, when the Ayatollahs swept into power. Last night tens of thousands of people flooded Tehran and other major cities demanding change.

In Galleh Dar, Fars province, a statue of Khamenei was torn down and set alight.

One person could be heard saying: “Am I dreaming? Welcome to the new world.”

Israel’s massive strike on Khamenei’s compound, where several of the regime’s leaders were thought to have met on Saturday, was the opening salvo of what is expected to be a days-long attack.

Iran on Saturday night responded by firing missiles and drones at US bases and civilian targets in five neighbouring Gulf states as it pledged a “crushing” retaliation.

Iranian missiles breached Israel’s Iron Dome and landed in Tel Aviv, killing one woman and injuring 20 others.

A five-star hotel in Dubai, several residential buildings in Bahrain and Kuwait’s international airport were struck as Tehran retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles that it had refused to give up during negotiations on Thursday.

The luxury Fairmont Palm hotel in Dubai was engulfed in flames on Saturday night after being struck by a Shahed suicide drone. Four people were injured, and British guests were last night sheltering in the basement as missiles continued to be fired towards the UAE. Dubai’s International Airport was also bombed.

Iran also struck the US Navy 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, the most vulnerable of American bases, while debris rained down from the skies above Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan.

The Qatari Interior Ministry said eight people were injured by falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles. Jordan said it “dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles.

Flights across the Middle East have been cancelled, leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded. Air defence fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ commercial capital last night. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the UAE capital killed one person, state media said.

In Iran, Mohammed Pakpour, the chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and Amir Nasirzadeh, its defence minister, were also killed along with 40 other top leaders of the regime, according to reports.

President Trump told Iranian guards to lay down their weapons or face certain death as he urged the Iranian public to force regime change.

Addressing the nation, Mr Trump said he had begun operation “Epic Fury” to ensure Americans would never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran.

“I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said in a video posted on Truth Social. More than 12 hours later, he added: “The 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!”

Mr Netanyahu said the joint attack would last “as long as needed,” unleashing a wave of strikes that threatened to destabilise the region.

Mr Trump monitored the operation from Mar-a-Lago, his Florida holiday home, alongside other key members of his administration, where he announced the beginning of the mission.

“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted ‘Death to America’ and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed,” he said. “Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world. They can never have a nuclear weapon.”

The US had amassed an intense strike force in the region while pressing Iran to use its nuclear program in negotiations that failed to reach an agreementon Thursday.

According to senior US officials, US intelligence believed there were indicators that Iran intended to use its ballistic missiles against American troops in the region.

Iran was also unwilling as its proxy groups in the region, sources said, and the US came to believe they were not negotiating seriously about a deal.

It meant the US president felt he had “no choice” but to strike Iran, the source added.

Under pressure to explain if Britain had allowed the US to use Diego Garcia, the military base of the Chagos Islands, Sir Keir Starmer said the UK was not involved in the attack.

“Iran can end this now,” he said in a televised address. “They should refrain from further strikes, give up their weapons program and cease the appalling violence and repression against the Iranian people.”

Israeli air force fighter jets dropped hundreds of munitions targeting approximately 500 objectives in several locations in Iran, including air defence systems and missile launchers.

One of the strikes targeted a site in Tabriz in western Iran. The Iranian Surface-To-Surface Missiles Unit used the site to launch dozens of missiles toward Israeli civilians.

The timing of the attack is no coincidence. The president’s approval ratings are at their lowest. With the midterm elections looming, Republicans risk losing the House.

With control hanging in the balance, Mr Trump hopes a decisive blow against a foreign aggressor will allow the Republicans to cling to power.

Iran’s defence ministry said it would provide weapons and equipment to continue its operation “until the enemy’s defeat”.

“As in the past, we will continue to provide complete weapons and equipment support to the brave fighters of the great Iranian nation for the continuation of ‘True promise four’ operations and the defeat of enemies,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

The IRGC blocked passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital oil export route in a move that risks inflating global oil prices.

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

Israeli officials told Axios that Israel had targeted Khamenei’s sons, although intelligence suggests they survived the strikes.

President Trump told Axios on Saturday that he has several diplomatic “off ramps” from operation Epic Fury, which raged into Sunday.

“I can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians,” he said. “See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs]. “In any case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack,” he predicted.

In the aftermath of the attack, Mr Trump spoke with Sir Keir the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

By Saturday night, the president had announced Khamenei was dead and that the process to bring the country “to the greatness it deserves” would begin soon.

Negotiations broke down after 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 groupssuch as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran claims it hasn’t enriched uranium since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites the US bombed last summer during Operation Midnight Hammer.

Satellite photos analysed by media outlets have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material.

Mr Trump had threatened military action but held off following Iran’s recent violent suppression protests spurred by economic grievances that evolved into a nationwide push against the ruling clerics.

More than 7,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the clampdown.

Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, backed the strikes on Iran, while Left-wing politicians have claimed that they were in breach of international law.

Mr Farage, the Reform UK leader, urged the Prime Minister to allow the use of British military bases and “support the Americans in this vital fight”.

Mrs Badenoch said she “stands with our allies in the US and Israel” as they “take on the threat” of Iran.

The Secret Service and FBI said it was in a heightened state of alert for attack by Iranian proxies and sleeper cells, which are feared to have been embedded across America.

As darkness fell over the region, US and Israeli air forces began the second stage of the mission, continuing strikes deep into the night.

Video footage circulating on social media showed Iranians celebrating the supreme leader’s death, with people cheering in the streets despite the near-total internet blackout.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]