Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died following a major attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday. President Donald Trump previously announced the death, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency did not report a cause of death for the 86-year-old. The assassination put the future of the Islamic Republic in doubt and raised the risk of regional instability.“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He warned of “heavy and pinpoint bombing” that he said would continue throughout the week and even beyond, part of a lethal assault the U.S. has justified as necessary to disable the country’s nuclear capabilities.The attack opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, carried the potential for retaliatory violence and a wider war and also represented a startling flex of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”The killing of Khamenei in the second Trump administration assault on Iran in eight months, appeared certain to create a leadership vacuum given the absence of a known successor and because the 86-year-old supreme leader had final say on all major policies during his decades in power. He led Iran’s clerical establishment and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the two main centers of power in the governing theocracy.As reports trickled out about the death, eyewitnesses in Tehran told The Associated Press that some residents were rejoicing, blowing whistles and letting out ululations.Iran, which responded to the strikes with its own counterassault, warned of retribution.Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, said Saturday that Israel and America will “regret their actions.”“The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors,” Larijani posted on X.The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran earlier in the day, and Trump called on the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.Iranian state media, citing the Red Crescent, on Saturday evening said at least 201 people had been killed and more than 700 injured. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of the 86-year-old supreme leader. Smoke rose from the capital as part of strikes that Iranian media said occurred nationwide.In a nationally televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes had targeted Khamenei’s compound and “there are growing signs that the tyrant is no longer alive.”Shortly after the address, two Israeli officials said Israel had confirmed his death. The officials both spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement and gave no further details.Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He had the final say on all major policies, led Iran’s clerical establishment and personally commanded the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard — the two main centers of power in the country’s theocracy.Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive “as far as I know,” and called the attack “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.” In a video announcing the “major combat operations,” Trump told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”Netanyahu echoed that goal, saying, “Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands.”The strikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran and marked the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has used military force against the Islamic Republic. They also came weeks after a U.S. military operation that captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro.The targets included members of Iran’s leadership, according to a U.S. official and another person briefed on the attacks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. There was no immediate information on whether top officials had been killed.About 12 hours after the attacks began, the U.S. military reported no U.S. casualties and minimal damage at U.S. bases despite “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.” It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.Various members of Iran’s leadership were targeted in the attack. Israel said it killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country’s defense minister. The Israeli military also said its strikes killed the secretary of the Iranian Security Council, a close adviser to Khamenei.Even if Iran’s top leaders were to be killed, regime change is not guaranteed and neither the U.S. nor Israel have articulated a vision for what new leadership would look like.Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, said that though Iran is a “bad actor,” the president must nonetheless “seek authorization for the preemptive use of military force that constitutes an act of war.” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance of the attack.The U.N. Security Council said it would meet Saturday afternoon. In a letter to the council, Araghchi said Iran will retaliate by all means necessary and “all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile forces in the region shall be regarded as legitimate military objectives.”Iran also requested an urgent session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors about “these threats to safeguarded nuclear facilities,” according to a letter posted by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on X it was closely monitoring developments and had seen “no evidence of radiological impact.”And Iran was in a “near-total internet blackout,” advocacy group NetBlocks said, complicating connections with the outside world. What we know so far:Why the U.S. and Israel attacked: Tensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region, and President Donald Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the joint attack on the nation Israel considers its archenemy was to “remove an existential threat posed” by Iran.Trump’s statement: He indicated the U.S. was striking for reasons far beyond the nuclear program, listing grievances stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic following a revolution in 1979 that turned Iran from one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East into a fierce foe. Read what he said in full.Airspaces are closing: Iraq and the United Arab Emirates closed their airspace, and sirens sounded in Jordan. Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters. Explosions also could be heard in Qatar.World leaders fear broader escalation: The strikes create a dilemma for the United States’ democratic allies. While European leaders firmly oppose Iran’s nuclear program and crackdowns by its hard-line theocracy, they are loath to embrace unilateral military action by Trump that could breach international law and unleash a broader conflict. Rising tensionsTensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region. Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program at a moment when the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests.The immediate trigger for Saturday’s strikes appears to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks. But they also reflect the dramatic changes across the region that have left Iran’s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide war, sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has left Iran’s network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. U.S. sanctions and global isolation, meanwhile, have decimated Iran’s economy.Iran responded to the latest strikes as it had been threatening to do for months, including by launching missiles and drones targeting Israel as well as strikes targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. “The time has come to defend the homeland and confront the enemy’s military assault,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X.At least 85 people were reported killed at a girls’ school in southern Iran in the Israeli-U.S. strikes, and dozens others were wounded, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. The White House and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Flights across the Middle East were disrupted and air defense fire thudded over Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital of the UAE killed one person, state media said. President Donald Trump explaining why the United States attacked Iran.AP What Trump saidThis is President Donald Trump’s sttement on Iran in full:A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. A vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries. Among the regime’s very first acts was to back a violent takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding dozens of American hostages for 444 days. In 1983, Iran’s proxies carried out the marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel.In 2000, they knew and were probably involved with the attack on the USS Cole. Many died. Iranian forces killed and maimed hundreds of American service members in Iraq. The regime’s proxies have continued to launch countless attacks against American forces stationed in the Middle East in recent years, as well as U.S. naval and commercial vessels and international shipping lines. It’s been mass terror, and we’re not going to put up with it any longer.From Lebanon to Yemen and Syria to Iraq, the regime has armed, trained and funded terrorist militias that have soaked the earth with blood and guts. And it was Iran’s proxy, Hamas, that launched the monstrous Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, slaughtering more than 1,000 innocent people, including 46 Americans, while taking 12 of our citizens hostage. It was brutal, something like the world has never seen before.They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore. Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland. Just imagine how emboldened this regime would be if they ever had, and actually were armed with nuclear weapons as a means to deliver their message.For these reasons, the United States military is undertaking a massive and ongoing operation to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests. We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally again obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy. We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces, and no longer use their IEDs, or roadside bombs as they are sometimes called, to so gravely wound and kill thousands and thousands of people, including many Americans. And we will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. It’s a very simple message. They will never have a nuclear weapon.This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration and there is no military on earth even close to its power, strength or sophistication. My administration is taking every possible step to minimize the risk to U.S. personnel in the region. Even so, and I do not make this statement lightly, the Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. But we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future. And it is a noble mission. We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear-armed Iran. We ask God to protect all of our heroes in harm’s way. And we trust that with his help, the men and women of the armed forces will prevail. We have the greatest in the world, and they will prevail.To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity. Or in the alternative, face certain death. So, lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death. Finally, to the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.For many years, you have asked for America’s help. But you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let’s see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny, and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.May God bless the brave men and women of America’s armed forces. May God bless the United States of America. May God bless you all. Thank you. Attack was coordinated between Israel and U.S.The attacks came after weeks of the U.S. military massing forces in the region even as U.S. and Iranian envoys held talks in Switzerland and Oman aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to head off American military operation.Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, a key mediator in the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, said in a post on X that he was dismayed that the United States and Israel moved forward with the operation.“Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” said al-Busaidi, who traveled to Washington on Friday to meet with Vice President JD Vance for talks. “Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this. And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further.”Israel said the operation was carried out as a “broad, coordinated, and joint operation against the regime” that has been planned for months between the Israeli and U.S. militaries.Trump, in justifying the military action, claimed that Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach the U.S.He also acknowledged that there could be American casualties, saying “that often happens in war.”It was a notable call on Americans to brace themselves from a U.S. leader who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars” that had bogged down his recent predecessors.Trump’s statement indicated the U.S. was striking for reasons far beyond the nuclear program, listing grievances stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic following a revolution in 1979 that turned Iran from one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East into a fierce foe.The U.S. president said he was aiming to “annihilate” the Iranian navy and destroy regional proxies supported by Tehran.He also called on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to lay down its arms, pledging that members would be given immunity, while warning they would face “certain death” if they didn’t.“They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore,” Trump said.Trump had threatened military action — but held off — following Iran’s recent crackdown on protests spurred by economic grievances and evolved into a nationwide, anti-government push against the ruling clerics.The Human Rights Activists News Agency says it confirmed more than 7,000 deaths in the crackdown and that it is investigating thousands more. The government has acknowledged more than 3,000 killed, though it has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed during a 12-day war then. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.Iran has a self-imposed limit on its ballistic missile program, limiting their range to 1,240 miles. That puts all the Mideast and some of Eastern Europe in their range. There is no public evidence of Iran seeking to have intercontinental ballistic missiles, though Washington has criticized its space program as potentially allowing it to one day.Iran had hoped to avert a war, but maintains it has the right to enrich uranium and does not want to discuss other issues, like its long-range missile program or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.The strikes could also have a huge impact on global markets, particularly if Iran is able to make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. More than 14 million barrels per day of oil passed through the strait in 2025, about a third of total worldwide oil exports transported by sea.Strikes hit targets across IranIranian media reported strikes nationwide. Roads to Khamenei’s compound in downtown Tehran had been shut down by authorities as other blasts rang out across the capital.Khamenei has not made a public appearance in recent days and wasn’t immediately seen after. During the 12-day war in June, he was believed to have been taken to a secure location away from his Tehran compound.In Tehran, witnesses heard the first blast by Khamenei’s office. Iranian state television later reported on the explosion, without offering a cause.More explosions struck Iran’s capital after Israel said it was attacking the country. Authorities have offered no casualty information from the strikes.Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence targets, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information on the attack.Iran retaliatesHours after the strikes, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it launched a “first wave” of drones and missiles targeting Israel, where a nationwide warning was issued as the military said it was working to intercept incoming Iranian missiles. There was no immediate word on any damage or casualties from the ongoing attack.And Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom. Witnesses heard sirens and explosions in Kuwait, home to U.S. Army Central. Explosions also could be heard in Qatar.Iraq and the United Arab Emirates closed their airspace, and sirens sounded in Jordan.Iraqi officials also reported a drone strike hit a headquarters of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Iraq, killing two people and wounding three Saturday. The group had earlier threatened to enter the fray should Iran come under attack. An Israeli military official said Israel was not aware of any Israeli strikes on Kataib Hezbollah headquarters in Iraq.The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, meanwhile, vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel, according to two senior Houthi officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement from the Houthi leadership.U.S. embassies or consulates in Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Israel posted on social media that they told staffers to shelter in place and recommended all Americans “do the same until further notice.” ...read more read less