Israeli strikes carried out early Saturday against Iran were aimed at the country’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian, media reported.
The operation also targeted other senior regime commanders and military leaders. The results of the strikes at the time of writing are not yet known.
A source familiar with the situation previously told Reuters that Khamenei was not in Tehran and had been taken to a safe location.
According to Ukrainian Pravda, Iranian state-affiliated news agency Tasnim later reported that Pezeshkian was “completely healthy” following the attacks.
At the same time, Israel’s Channel 12, citing unnamed Israeli sources, said Israel assessed the strikes as “very successful” in achieving their objective of eliminating Iran’s leadership. The assessment reportedly referred to senior commanders and President Pezeshkian.
The report added that it remained unclear whether Khamenei had suffered serious consequences as a result of the strikes.
Earlier Ukraine has consistently condemned Iran’s ruling regime for supporting terrorism and committing systematic human rights abuses, saying Tehran had every opportunity to avoid a military scenario through diplomacy but chose not to do so, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Saturday, Feb.28.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Kyiv with Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen, Sybiha said Ukraine’s position on Iran remained “consistent and unchanged.”
“The Iranian regime has for decades terrorized the region, supported and financed militant groups that spread instability abroad, and oppressed its own people,” Sybiha said, adding that Ukraine “always stands with the Iranian people.”
He said years of systemic human rights violations, harsh repression, executions and persecution of dissenters pointed to a deep internal political crisis in Iran. According to Sybiha, Tehran was repeatedly offered diplomatic avenues and opportunities to seek solutions but failed to use them.
His comments came amid a sharp escalation in the region after Israel launched what it described as a pre-emptive strike on Iran on Feb. 28. Iran later reported attacks on US military facilities in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, where American bases are located, according to media reports.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said an immediate nationwide state of emergency had been declared, describing the strike on Iran as necessary to neutralise security threats. Media reports said the operation involved both Israel and the US.