President Donald Trump declared Saturday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead following U.S. and Israeli strikes, calling it “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country.”
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,” Trump wrote in a statement. He said the operation was carried out in coordination with Israel and claimed Iranian leaders were unable to evade U.S. intelligence and “highly sophisticated tracking systems.”
Earlier Saturday, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel believed Khamenei was among those killed in the strikes. Iranian state media confirmed Khamenei's death hours later.
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Trump also said on Saturday that heavy bombing would "continue uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!"
The United States and Israel launched major strikes against Iran early Saturday, with Trump announcing that “major combat operations” were underway. He said the objective is to eliminate what he described as imminent threats from the Iranian regime and to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground,” Trump said. “We are going to annihilate their navy … They will never have a nuclear weapon.”
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Iran quickly retaliated — with explosions reported in Irsrael and across the Middle East.
In his initial remarks, Trump acknowledged the risks of military action.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” he said. “That often happens in war.”
He has also appealed to the Iranian people, who have been seen in the streets celebrating Khamenei's apparent death.
"Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves," Trump stated.
