BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 1. Iran has confirmed the death of its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Trend reports, citing official Iranian television.
A statement posted on the Telegram channel of state television read: “Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei has passed away.”
Khamenei was reportedly at work in his residence at the time of his death, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday during the American-Israeli missile strikes.
Following his death, Iran has declared 40 days of mourning and seven days of remembrance.
Earlier reports from Iranian media indicated that four members of Khamenei’s family, including his daughter and grandson, were killed in the attacks.
Earlier, Israel carried out a preventive strike against Iran (Tehran) to eliminate threats to the state. Later, Israel closed its airspace and switched to a state of emergency restrictions. A second wave of Israeli airstrikes on Iran then began. Shortly afterward, Iran also closed its airspace.
It was later reported that the attack on Iran was a joint operation by Israel and the United States. In turn, Donald Trump announced the launch of a military operation by the US Armed Forces against Iran. Information subsequently emerged about the targets of Israel’s strikes on Iran. Shortly afterward, Iran launched its first wave of missiles toward Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu also made a statement amid the start of the operation against Iran. It was later reported that a second wave of missiles had been launched from Iran toward Israel.
Some time later, a state of emergency was declared in Israel. It was subsequently reported that Iran had attacked 14 US military bases in the region. Closer to the evening, Iran began a wave of retaliatory strikes using ballistic missiles.