Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Iranian state media and official sources confirmed the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei along with several senior military and political figures following Israeli and US airstrikes, capping hours of conflicting reports and dramatically escalating tensions across the Middle East.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump had earlier declared Khamenei killed, while Israeli officials said the supreme leader’s compound in central Tehran had been destroyed in a targeted operation.
Conflicting reports before confirmation
In the immediate aftermath of the strikes, Iranian authorities initially denied reports of Khamenei’s death, insisting he was “leading the battle.” However, Iranian television later confirmed that the 86-year-old leader had been killed along with top officials, including Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the defense council, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Mohammad Pakpour.
Iran declared 40 days of national mourning and ordered a seven-day suspension of official work, while uncertainty persists over who will succeed the country’s highest authority.
According to Iranian media citing the Supreme National Security Council, Khamenei was killed at his residence. The government indicated that President Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the judiciary, and a senior cleric from the Guardian Council would oversee a transitional period until a new supreme leader is chosen.
Israeli and US reactions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the complex housing Iran’s supreme leader had been destroyed, adding there were “strong indications that the tyrant is no longer present,” according to Israeli press reports.
A US official speaking to Fox News also confirmed reports that Khamenei and several senior Iranian leaders had been killed. American sources told Reuters that the timing of the strike coincided with a high-level meeting Khamenei was holding with senior aides.
An Israeli official cited by the agency said Khamenei’s body had been recovered from the site of the attack.
Trump vows continued strikes
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the reported killing as “the greatest opportunity for the Iranian people to reclaim their country.” He said Washington was hearing that many members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, military, and security forces no longer wanted to fight.
“As I said last night: now they can get immunity, later they will only get death,” Trump wrote, urging the Revolutionary Guard and police to “peacefully merge with Iranian patriots.”
He added that the “heavy and precise bombing” would continue without interruption “throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve our goal of peace across the Middle East and the entire world.”
Iran vows retaliation
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later confirmed Khamenei’s death and pledged revenge against those responsible, calling on all segments of Iranian society to unite.
The US Department of Homeland Security warned that the killing of Iran’s supreme leader would likely trigger retaliatory action by Iran and its regional proxies, raising fears of a wider conflict.
Khamenei’s rise and decades in power
Khamenei had ruled Iran since 1989, becoming the country’s second supreme leader after the death of Ruhollah Khomeini. Born in the northeastern city of Mashhad in 1939 to a religious family, he moved to Qom at age 19 to study under Khomeini and later joined the underground movement against the US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Khamenei rose rapidly through the new political order. An assassination attempt in 1981 left his right arm paralyzed, but he soon became president of Iran and later ascended to the supreme leadership following constitutional changes that enabled his appointment.
During his tenure, he deepened the role of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran’s political and economic systems, particularly during and after the eight-year Iran-Iraq war.
Economic networks and sanctions evasion
Under Khamenei, Iran built an extensive parallel economic structure designed to withstand Western sanctions. Central to this system was the powerful Setad organization, formally established in 1989 to manage and sell abandoned properties after the revolution but later transformed into a vast financial empire under the supreme leader’s control.
A six-month Reuters investigation published in 2013 estimated Setad’s assets at about $95 billion, including major real estate holdings and corporate investments.
Over the past two decades, a broader transnational network also emerged around figures close to Khamenei’s inner circle. Western reports have highlighted the role of Hussein Shamkhani, known in oil trading circles as “Hector”, who allegedly managed a “shadow fleet” of tankers used to export Iranian oil despite sanctions.
The network reportedly relied on disabling tracking systems, changing ship flags, falsifying cargo origins, and using layered offshore companies to move oil revenues through international financial channels. Investigations have also pointed to investments in luxury real estate in London, hotels in Germany and Spain, and assets in Canada and France.
Analysts say these mechanisms allowed Iran to generate billions of dollars outside the formal economy despite mounting sanctions pressure.
Uncertain succession and rising risks
The death of Khamenei represents the most serious shock to Iran’s leadership structure in more than three decades. It comes at a moment of extreme regional volatility and could reshape internal power balances within the Islamic Republic.
With Iran’s leadership entering a sensitive transition and senior military figures reportedly killed in the same strikes, regional and international observers are closely watching for signs of retaliation, internal instability, or a broader military escalation in the days ahead.
