Trump says he feels reports that Khamenei is dead are correct and ‘a lot of’ Iran’s senior leadership killed in strikes
The US president has been speaking to US media, in which he appeared to back up Israeli reports that Iran’s supreme leader was killed in airstrikes today.
Donald Trump addressed reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, telling NBC News: “We feel that that is a correct story.”
He added that “most” of Iran’s senior leadership is “gone”.
double quotation markThe people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone.
Asked by ABC News about Iranian leadership and whether the US believes they were killed in strikes, Trump said.
double quotation markA lot of it is, yeah. But we don’t know all, but a lot of it is. Was a very powerful strike.
Asked about the next leadership and if a leader has been identified, Trump said: “Yes. We have a very good idea.”
Further, a Fox News reporter, citing a US official, hears that the US believes Khamenei is dead, along with five to 10 top Iranian leaders who were killed in an initial Israeli strike.
This is in line with a statement from an IDF spokesperson earlier that “a number of the most senior leaders of Iran” were “targeted” and “eliminated” in the strikes, including Ali Shamkhani, advisor for security affairs, Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, minister of defence.
The IDF did not, however, mention Khamenei.
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Updated at 21.11 GMT
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Israel strikes Iran
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A short while ago, the Israeli ambassador to UN, Danny Danon, said condemnation of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran was “hypocrisy”, and said that Israel and the US acted to prevent “an irreversible and immediate threat”.
“Some call this aggression. We call it necessity. We call it survival,” he told reporters at the UN security council.
Asked whether Iran’s supreme leader had been killed in the strikes, Danon said only that Israel “will continue to target the leadership of the radical regime”.
Danny Danon speaks to the media at UN headquarters in New York City. Photograph: Heather Khalifa/ReutersShare
The White House has released this photo of Donald Trump overseeing the US-Israeli attack on Iran early Saturday from his Mar-a-Lago club, in Florida.
Others in the frame include CIA director John Ratcliffe, secretary of state Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Donald Trump monitors US military operations in Iran from Mar-a-Lago. Photograph: The White house/Twitter/X
It’s noteworthy that the US president was doing this from a makeshift situation room at his Florida property, rather than the Situation Room at the White House, as would usually be the case. Trump also used this room at Mar-a-Lago during the US operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro last month.
On that, over in the White House, vice-president JD Vance was in the actual Situation Room, monitoring the operation with senior US officials including energy secretary Chris Wright, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and treasury secretary Scott Bessent.
JD Vance speaks with senior officials in the Situation Room at the White House. Photograph: White House/ReutersShare
Updated at 21.14 GMT
Iranian state-linked media denies that Khamenei is dead
Contradicting Israeli reports that Ali Khamenei is dead, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim and Mehr news agencies are reporting that the supreme leader is “steadfast and firm in commanding the field”.
Again, we still haven’t had any official confirmation on Khamenei’s fate, and there is a strong incentive for both sides to control the narrative about him being dead or alive. We’ll bring you more clarity as we get it.
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Updated at 21.00 GMT
Trump says he feels reports that Khamenei is dead are correct and ‘a lot of’ Iran’s senior leadership killed in strikes
The US president has been speaking to US media, in which he appeared to back up Israeli reports that Iran’s supreme leader was killed in airstrikes today.
Donald Trump addressed reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, telling NBC News: “We feel that that is a correct story.”
He added that “most” of Iran’s senior leadership is “gone”.
double quotation markThe people that make all the decisions, most of them are gone.
Asked by ABC News about Iranian leadership and whether the US believes they were killed in strikes, Trump said.
double quotation markA lot of it is, yeah. But we don’t know all, but a lot of it is. Was a very powerful strike.
Asked about the next leadership and if a leader has been identified, Trump said: “Yes. We have a very good idea.”
Further, a Fox News reporter, citing a US official, hears that the US believes Khamenei is dead, along with five to 10 top Iranian leaders who were killed in an initial Israeli strike.
This is in line with a statement from an IDF spokesperson earlier that “a number of the most senior leaders of Iran” were “targeted” and “eliminated” in the strikes, including Ali Shamkhani, advisor for security affairs, Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, minister of defence.
The IDF did not, however, mention Khamenei.
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Updated at 21.11 GMT
Zohran Mamdani denounces ‘catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression’
In a statement posted on social media, New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, condemned the strikes on Iran and sought to reassure Iranian New Yorkers that they will be safe in the city.
Mamdani wrote:
double quotation markToday’s military strikes on Iran – carried out by the United States and Israel – mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace. I am focused on making sure that every New Yorker is safe. I have been in contact with our Police Commissioner and emergency management officials. We are taking proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution. Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city – you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here.
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Updated at 20.48 GMT
The US military’s Central Command earlier released a video showing missiles and jets launching from a naval vessel. It also showed strikes on various unidentified targets.
In the post on X, it said:
double quotation markAs the President stated, our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
The President ordered bold action. CENTCOM forces are delivering an overwhelming and unrelenting blow.
In a subsequent post, US Central Command boasted that they used “one-way attack drones … modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones” in Operation Epic Fury (the name of this attack on Iran).
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Iran official warns of ‘mental warfare’ after Israeli reports of Khamenei’s death
The head of public relations at the Iranian supreme leader’s office on Saturday accused the country’s enemies of “mental warfare” after Israeli reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed, Iranian state media reported.
“The enemy is resorting to mental warfare, all should be aware,” the public relations official was quoted as saying.
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Updated at 20.25 GMT
Kamala Harris: ‘Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want’
Robert Mackey
Kamala Harris, the former US vice-president who lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump, has denounced the attack on Iran.
“Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want,” Harris said in a statement. “Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice.”
“This is a dangerous and unnecessary gamble with American lives that also jeopardizes stability in the region and our standing in the world,” Harris added. “I know the threat that Iran poses, and they must never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, but this is not the way to dismantle that threat.
“During the campaign, Donald Trump promised to end wars rather than start them. It was a lie. Then last year, he said ‘we obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear program. That, too, was a lie,” the former California senator who said recently she is considering another run in 2028 also said.
Harris went on to note that the US constitution is clear that “the President must receive authorization from Congress to enter a war. But even if he had, that does not change the fact this action is unwise, unjustified, and not supported by the American people. There can be no equivocation in our opposition to Donald Trump’s war of choice, and Congress must use all available power to prevent him from further committing us to this conflict. Our troops, our allies, and the American people deserve nothing less.”
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Updated at 20.26 GMT
Iran supreme leader is dead – unconfirmed reports say
Reuters is reporting that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is dead. According to a senior Israeli official, Khamenei, who has ruled Iran since 1989, is dead and his body has been found.
Axios, citing an Israeli official, is also reporting that the Israeli ambassador to the US has informed US officials that Khamenei was killed.
It follows Benjamin Netanyahu saying a short while ago that there were growing signs that Khamenei “is no longer with us”.
A reminder that we don’t have any official confirmation yet, but the Israelis do seem confident that he was killed.
We’ll bring you more clarity as we get it.
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Updated at 21.02 GMT
‘I can go long or end Iran conflict in two or three days,’ Trump says
In a five-minute phone interview from Mar-a-Lago, the US president has told Axios that he has several “off ramps” for his conflict with Iran. He said:
double quotation markI can go long and take over the whole thing, or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians: ‘See you again in a few years if you start rebuilding [your nuclear and missile programs]. In any case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack.
Trump also claimed that the Iranians “got close and then pulled back” on talks – which were being held in Geneva last week. “I understood from that that they don’t really want a deal,” he said.
The US president told Axios he had a “great” conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu after the strikes, and said he and the Israeli prime minister were “on the same wavelength”.
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Updated at 19.53 GMT
Trump spoke to leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Nato chief, White House says
Donald Trump has spoken to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, as well as Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has said.
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Updated at 19.29 GMT
Netanyahu calls on Iranians to ‘flood the streets’ and seize ‘opportunity’ to topple regime
Addressing the “courageous” Iranian people, Netanyahu says the strikes will help them “unshackle themselves from tyranny”.
They have a “once in a generation chance” to overthrow the Iranian regime, he says.
He urges Iranians to “take to the streets en masse” and “get the job done”.
It is “high time you come together” and “unite for a historic mission”, he says.
double quotation markThis is an opportunity to do something. Do not sit with your arms crossed, because this moment will come and you will be demanded to go out of the streets in the masses, because you have to complete this work, and you have to bring down and eradicate this regime.
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Updated at 19.16 GMT
Netanyahu says Revolutionary Guard commanders and senior nuclear officials were eliminated.
He says they will continue to hit “thousands of targets” in Iran’s “terrorist regime”.
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Updated at 19.17 GMT
Signs show that Khamenei is ‘no longer with us’, says Netanyahu
Netanyahu says airstrikes have destroyed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound and adds that “all indications show this tyrant is no longer with us”.
While not explicitly confirming Khamenei’s death, this is strongest official indication yet that the missing leader is dead.
Khamenei has not been heard from since US-Israeli strikes began and satellite imagery has shown that his secure compound in Tehran was heavily damaged in the initial barrage.
The Iranian foreign ministry earlier claimed to Sky News that the supreme leader and Iran’s president were both “safe and sound”. And Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told NBC News that they were alive “as far as I know”.
There had also been reports earlier that Khamenei was going to give a speech, but the Iranian culture ministry said those reports were incorrect.
We’ll bring you clarity as soon as we get it.
Black smoke rises after strikes heavily damage the supreme leader’s compound in Tehran. Photograph: APShare
Updated at 20.58 GMT
‘The American people are being lied to again’, Bernie Sanders says
Robert Mackey
US senator Bernie Sanders has denounced the US attack on Iran, comparing the justifications offered by Donald Trump to the lies used to justify previous US wars on Iraq and Vietnam that ended in disaster.
In a statement on social media, in which he called on his colleagues in the US Senate to deny the authorization for war Trump has not sought, Sanders wrote:
double quotation markPresident Trump, along with his right-wing extremist Israeli ally Benjamin Netanyahu, has begun an illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional war. Tragically, Trump is gambling with American lives and treasure to fulfill Netanyahu’s decades-long ambition of dragging the United States into armed conflict with Iran.
“The Senate must reconvene immediately and vote on a pending War Powers Resolution which I will strongly support,” he added, before noting that “this attack against Iran is a clear violation of international law and will create increased instability in an already dangerous world.”
double quotation markThe American people were lied to about Vietnam. The American people were lied to about Iraq. The American people are being lied to again today and once again, it is ordinary people who will pay the price. We must not allow Trump to force us into another senseless war. No war with Iran.
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Updated at 19.41 GMT
Netanyahu speaks after US-Iraeli strikes on Iran
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is speaking now in a televised address.
He says that Israel’s military campaign in Iran will go on “as long as it is needed”, and claims the conflict will bring about “true peace”.
He says everyone knows that “such a murderous regime” should not have nuclear weapons that can “continue threatening the entire humankind”.
“We would like to thank the brave Iranian people, that they are being freed of those horrific ties with that regime,” he says.
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Updated at 19.39 GMT
Here are some satellite images showing strike damage at air, naval and missile sites in Konarak, southern Iran.
Damage at the naval base in Konarak and associated drone facilities after airstrikes on Iran by Israel and the US. Photograph: Satellite image ©2025 Vantor/EPAStrike damage on the naval base in Konarak, Iran. Photograph: Satellite image ©2025 Vantor/EPAShare
Updated at 18.57 GMT
Iran requests emergency IAEA meeting over ‘wrongful acts of aggressors’
Earlier, Iran called for an emergency meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog to discuss “baseless” US and Israeli claims against its atomic programme used as one of several justifications for Saturday’s strikes.
“In light of ongoing acts of aggression by the US and Israeli regimes … [Iran] called for an urgent extraordinary meeting” of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, Iran’s mission to the agency said on X above an image of its formal request letter.
“Baseless claims, vicious threats and wrongful acts of aggressors against Iran’s peaceful nuclear program shall be addressed by the Board immediately,” it added.
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Updated at 18.54 GMT
