Iran’s state television announced on Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has died, confirming earlier reports that he was killed in a military strike. The broadcaster offered no additional details on the exact circumstances surrounding his death.
The government declared a 40‑day period of national mourning following the announcement.
In an official statement, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Khamenei was killed in his office early Saturday and described his death as the beginning of a “great uprising against the tyrants of the world.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged it would “decisively avenge” his killing and asserted that the “hand of the Iranian people will not release the killers of the Imam,” framing martyrdom as a victory and urging citizens to participate in national defense rallies to show unity against what it termed “the enemies of the nation.”
The statement from the IRGC also stressed that Khamenei’s legacy would continue with “strength and grandeur” and that the nation would be more determined to carry forward his “illuminating path.”
Earlier on Saturday night, former U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that Khamenei was “dead,” calling him “one of the most evil people in history.
Khamenei, Iran’s religious and political leader, was 86 years of age. He had been leading the country since 1989.