Loud cheers echoed across parts of Tehran late Saturday as residents went to their windows, applauded and played celebratory music following reports that Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei had been killed, according to multiple witnesses and audio recordings.
The celebrations began shortly after 11 p.m. local time, witnesses said, though there was no official confirmation from Iranian authorities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were indications that Khamenei had been killed during US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
“This morning, in a powerful surprise strike, the compound of the tyrant Ali Khamenei was destroyed in the heart of Tehran,” Netanyahu said in a televised address. “That plan is no more — and there are many signs that this tyrant is no longer alive,” he added.
Two Israeli television networks reported that Khamenei was killed in the attacks. Israel’s public broadcaster Kan posted on X that “Ali Khamenei is dead,” while Channel 12, citing a source, reported the same. Tehran has not confirmed the reports.
Netanyahu said the “decisive” US-Israeli operation would continue “as long as necessary,” adding that senior figures in Iran’s leadership had already been targeted.
“This morning we eliminated senior figures in the ayatollahs’ regime — commanders in the Revolutionary Guards and senior officials in the nuclear programme — and we will continue,” he said, adding that “in the coming days, we will strike thousands of targets of the terror regime.”
Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, vowed retaliation.
“We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret it,” Larijani wrote on X, saying Iran would “teach an unforgettable lesson” to the United States and Israel.
Israeli media later reported that senior Israeli officials had been informed of Khamenei’s alleged elimination and that his body had been recovered from the rubble of his compound. Channel 12 reported that a photograph of the body had been shown to Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, though this claim also could not be independently confirmed.
In his address, Netanyahu directly appealed to Iranians, urging them to act against their leadership.
“Now is the time to unite for a historic mission — citizens of Iran,” he said. “This is your time to join forces, to overthrow the regime and to secure your future.”
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was alive and in a safe location, denying reports that he was killed in air strikes.
The statement came after US President Donald Trump said he believes multiple reports claiming Khamenei had been killed are accurate, though he stopped short of offering official confirmation.
“We feel that that is a correct story,” Trump was quoted as saying by NBC News.
Who Is Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader?
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been the country’s paramount authority since 1989, holding ultimate control over national security decisions. Now 86, he played a central role in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah. A hard-line figure, Khamenei has overseen repeated crackdowns on protests and has long been a focal point of opposition to Iran’s restrictive domestic policies and confrontational foreign stance.
In mid-February, Khamenei warned that Iran was ready to respond to any US military action, saying that threats posed by Iran’s weapons were greater than those of American warships. He added that the United States could be struck with such force that it would be unable to recover.