The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, and U.S. President Donald 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.
Trump later said on social media that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was dead, saying his passing is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.” There was no immediate comment from Iran on his status.
Earlier, Iran had retaliated to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.
Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit areas around the offices of Khamenei. Smoke could be seen rising from the capital as part of strikes that Iranian media said occurred nationwide. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 86-year-old leader was in his offices when the attack occurred.
Here’s the latest:
Trump says that Iran’s supreme leader is dead
U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead, saying his passing is “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”
The death occurred after a joint U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites.
Trump in his post called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history.”
Trump said that Khamenei “was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do.”
Trump says he believes Iran’s supreme leader is dead
U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview with ABC News he believes Iran’s supreme leader is dead.
The president was asked if Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the Isreal-U.S. attack and he said, “We believe so.” But he also said: “I don’t want to say anything definitively until I see things but we believe he is. And much of their leaders are gone.”
Trump said the U.S. had “great intelligence” and that it believes much of the Iranian leadership “is gone.”
ABC News did not release audio of the interview.
UN chief calls for end to hostilities, return to US-Iran talks
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that “everything must be done to prevent a further escalation.”
“The alternative,” he warned, “is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.”
Guterres reiterated his earlier condemnation of the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes for violating Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and international law, including the U.N. Charter – and he also condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Shrapnel from Iranian missile attack injures man in Tel Aviv area
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service says rocket shrapnel from the latest Iranian missile attack has seriously injured a man in the Tel Aviv area. It marks the first serious injury to be reported in Israel since the exchange of missiles began. Magen David Adom says it has also treated 90 casualties, all in mild condition.
No one has been killed in Israel.
Israel’s U.N. ambassador calls condemnation of airstrikes ‘hypocrisy’
Danny Danon told reporters ahead of an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Iran is responsible for escalating actions by its proxies and its nuclear and missile programs, and “now Israel and the U.S. act to prevent an irreversible and immediate threat.”
He did not respond to a question asking whether he could confirm the death of Iran’s supreme leader. But he said: “We will continue to target the leadership of the radical regime and we will do whatever necessary to enable the right conditions for the people of Iran and stability for the region.”
How long will it take? “As long as it will take to achieve the goals,” Danon replied.
Everyone is watching the situation on the ground, he said, and “the time for the Iranian people to take control of the future is very soon.
Most of Iran’s senior leadership is ‘gone’ — Trump
Asked about reports that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in airstrikes on Saturday, President Donald Trump said: “We feel that that is a correct story.”
In a brief phone interview with NBC News, Trump said “a large amount of leadership” of Iran had been killed, adding: “I don’t mean like two people.”
He also said “most” of Iran’s senior leadership is “gone,” including many people who make decisions.
Asked who might now become Iran’s new supreme leader, Trump joked, “I don’t know. But at some point they’ll be calling me to ask who I’d like” before noting he was being “only being a little sarcastic” in suggesting that.
Iran’s defense minister and Revolutionary Guard commander killed, says Israel
Israel’s military has named some of the top members of Iran’s leadership it says were killed in its first round of Saturday strikes on Iran. Neither Iran nor the U.S. commented on or confirmed the claims.
Israel said the strikes killed Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.
The military also said its strikes took out Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Iranian Security Council and a close adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and Mohammad Shirazi, the head of Khamenei’s military bureau.
